Dream's End
by Star Tours Traveler
Summary: Jack Ryan, Eleanor Lamb, Subject Sigma, and Mark Meltzer return to Rapture on a mission with a single objective: To destroy Rapture and bury its secrets forever. Midquel to "A Chance." Full Summary Inside. Spoilers for all Bioshock games.
1. Return to Rapture

**Summary: **Jack Ryan, Eleanor Lamb, Subject Sigma, and Mark Meltzer return to Rapture on a mission with a single objective: To destroy Rapture and bury its secrets forever. Midquel to "A Chance." Full Summary Inside. Spoilers for all Bioshock games.

**Summary (Full): **Jack Ryan, his adopted foster daughter Eleanor Lamb, the former Alpha Series, Charles Milton "Subject Sigma" Porter, and former Rumbler, Mark Meltzer, return to Rapture on a mission with a single objective: To destroy Rapture and bury its secrets forever. But they quickly find themselves caught in the crossfire of the Second Rapture Civil War between "Alex the Great" and another faction. But what's more startling is that Atlas is the one leading the other faction. Does Atlas really live? Is he the one behind the start of this new civil war? Why do characters, once thought to be dead, keep reappearing alive? And who are these strange twins that keep appearing? Midquel to "A Chance." Spoilers for all Bioshock games.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bioshock or any of its associated characters. There might be one or two OCs which I own but we shall see.

**Author's Advice: **This story takes place a couple years after Bioshock 2. To find out the events leading up to this one, I advise you read my story "A Chance" to get an idea of what has happened to Jack since the end of Bioshock and the events leading up to and well after Bioshock 2.

**A/N: **The story takes place where Bioshock ended with Jack adopting the 5 Little Sisters, and Bioshock 2 with the best ending (Eleanor spares Sofia, rescues the Little Sisters, Stanley, Grace, and Gil are spared by Subject Delta.). Also expect to see the player characters from Bioshock 2 Multiplayer in the story.

That being said, enjoy the story…

* * *

Jack: _"Alright, today is January first, nineteen seventy. This is Jonathan "Jack" Ryan…"_

Eleanor: _"…-Eleanor Lamb-…"_

Porter: _"…-Charles Milton Porter-…"_

Mark: _"…-Mark Meltzer-…"_

Jack: _"…-and this is our last message for those on the surface."_

Eleanor: _"In nineteen forty six, Andrew Ryan built the underwater city of Rapture, far beyond the sight of the world."_

Porter: _"He filled it with the best and brightest that the world had to offer with the intention of creating a completely capitalism based society, free from government and religion. But this vision was doomed from the start."_

Jack: _"With the discovery of a substance called ADAM, and Andrew Ryan's decline into despotism, Rapture's economy began to fall into fast decline."_

Porter: _"Following the rise of a criminal conman, Frank Fontaine, under the alias of a would-be liberator named "Atlas," the Rapture Civil War began on the eve of nineteen fifty nine, causing the entire society of Rapture to collapse."_

Eleanor: _"Then came one man, seemingly the sole survivor of a plane crash, who changed the entire future of Rapture."_

Jack: _"I was that man. I was fooled, nay controlled by Atlas using mental conditioning that had been programmed into my head since birth, to track down and eventually kill Andrew Ryan. I succeeded but was soon betrayed by Atlas, or Fontaine, who tried to take Rapture over for the sole purpose of selling its technological advancements for his own profit."_

Porter: _"But Fontaine also fell."_

Mark: _"The year was nineteen sixty. Eight years later, a string of kidnappings from across the coastlines of Europe and the eastern coastline of America, led to my discovery of Rapture. My daughter, Cindy, was among those kidnapped."_

Eleanor: _"My mother, Dr. Sofia Lamb, hoped to turn me into a total altruist through constant injections of ADAM into my system. ADAM that had been harvested from her followers. In fear for my own life, I reawakened my father, an Alpha Series Big Daddy, the protectors of the little girls who collected the ADAM from the bodies of dead Splicers, to come and rescue me."_

Mark: _"He succeeded in doing so, but at the cost of his own life. His sacrifice allowed Eleanor to escape to the surface, and allowed me to rescue my daughter but at the cost of my becoming a Big Daddy."_

Porter: _"But as we lived on the surface, we realized that the governments of the world each knew about Rapture but only lacked the knowledge of its location. Should so much as one government, be it America, Russia, or any other, it could bring about a war the likes of which the world has never seen before." _

Jack: _"So now, we return to Rapture. Our mission is to destroy the city, so that its secrets remain buried beneath the Atlantic Ocean. We each know this mission could cost us our very lives, but to us, the sacrifice would be worth it. To anyone who finds this message, whatever you do, do not come searching for us."_

Jack Ryan, Eleanor Lamb, Charles Milton Porter, Mark Meltzer  
"Dream's End."

* * *

Deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean, a Bathysphere locked into place into an empty Emergency Bathysphere station in the secret city of Rapture. The front doors to the bathysphere opened with a hiss, an eerie green glow emanating from within. From inside the bathysphere emerged four figures. The first was a Big Sister with a green hued diving suit and the Greek letter, Delta, inscribed on the back of its left hand and on the shoulder guards. She lacked the cage on the back but she still had the large sword-like syringes on her arms. The syringes had been modified so that they would retract into the metallic gauntlets, allowing her to use sheathe the syringes into the gauntlets and use her hands without the needles getting in her way. Behind her emerged an Alpha Series Big Daddy with the Greek letter Sigma on the back of its hands, and carrying an Ion Laser gun. Behind him was a figure in a modified Hard Hat Diving suit. The suit had been extensively modified to withstand the crushing depths of the ocean. The Hard Hat was carrying a fully upgraded Thompson submachine gun. Behind him emerged a Rumbler type Big Daddy who immediately started laying down modified mini-turrets.

"Alright, we're here." The one in the Hard Hat suit said with a droning voice like a Big Daddy. He reached for his helmet and removed it, revealing himself to be Jack Ryan. The others started removing their helmets. The Big Sister was Eleanor Lamb, the Alpha was Charles Milton Porter, or Subject Sigma, while the Rumbler was Mark Meltzer.

"Any idea where we are?" Mark asked as they each turned on flashlights on their wrists or helmets and started looking around.

"Not sure. There aren't any lights on, but we're obviously somewhere in Rapture." Porter said, shining his flashlight around. Finally Jack spotted a sign over an archway that read "Point Prometheus."

"Ah, I know where we are. Look." Jack said as they all followed the beam of his flashlight towards the sign.

"Show of hands. Who's been in this area?" Meltzer asked as Jack raised his hand.

"This is near where I killed Frank Fontaine." Jack said as he moved his flashlight around. They were in a large square shaped room with two walls that ran parallel down the center. In the dead center of the room was a damaged pedestal of some sort with a strange broken round frame. Jack then realized where they were.

"No way." He muttered as he hurried towards a door on the opposite wall, shining his flashlight at some strange form on the floor.

"What is it, Jack?" Porter asked. Jack silently pointed at the object on the floor and muttered only one word.

"Fontaine." Jack said as they gathered around. The form was actually a horrendously large and bulky human behemoth that was now a heavily decayed corpse. It was all that remained of Frank Fontaine.

"So that explains the smell." Eleanor sighed.

"Come on, we've got a job to do." Jack said as he headed for the elevator door but found that the door was open and the cable was snapped. The elevator was somewhere at the bottom of a water filled shaft.

"Well this is perfect. How do we get down?" Porter asked.

"We could try and find a new docking station for the Bathysphere. Maybe the smuggler's cave if it's still open." Jack suggested.

"Or you could just go down through this hole." Mark said from behind them. They all turned and saw a hole in the floor, leading to a staircase that spiraled down towards the bottom, but was filled with water.

"We could jump. Our suits will protect us and the water will slow our descent." Jack said as Porter and Eleanor started to place their helmets back on their heads. Jack followed suit and they gathered around the hole.

"Mark, are you going to be okay by yourself up here?" Jack asked as Mark nodded before putting his helmet on his head.

"I'll be fine. These new Mini-turrets that You, Porter, and Tenenbaum made should keep the Splicers out." Mark said as Eleanor jumped down the hole first.

"Remember, we're counting on you to keep the Bathysphere protected. We'll try and hurry back to you if you need us. Worst case scenario, you can move the bathysphere to another platform." Jack said as Porter jumped into the hole.

"You got it Jack." Mark said as he sat down in the doorway of the bathysphere. Jack then leapt into the hole, descending quickly down the water filled tower. After a moment of falling, he landed in a flooded room filled with debris. He saw Porter and Eleanor standing near a hole in the wall, leading outside, motioning for him to follow. Jack quickly started moving towards the hole, the three of them emerging outside and then jumping down a few stories to the ocean floor below. Once they landed, they turned around only to see the airlock leading into Point Prometheus was locked down so instead they turned back around and started following a makeshift pathway towards a lit neon sign that read "Heracles Hall." The walk underwater took them past a large glass window on the outside of one of the buildings. Porter happened to glance inside and what he saw made him pause.

"_Hey, you might want to see this."_ Porter said through the suit radios. The other two stopped and walked back towards him. They peered through the windows to see a strange sight. It was a trio of security bots attacking a pair of Splicers. The bots had blue lights on them instead of the usual yellow, red, or green. The Splicers were thuggish by the fact that one had a lead pipe and the other had a frying pan.

"_Odd. We best keep moving though."_ Jack said as they turned and walked away just as the two Splicers were gunned down by the bots. They soon reached an airlock leading into Heracles Hall.

"_Okay, info on Heracles Hall?"_ Jack asked as they stepped into the airlock.

"_Heracles Hall was where the major sporting events of Rapture took place. This is where all the football games were held."_ Porter said as Jack threw the switch, closing the door behind them and allowing the water to drain.

"_Is it anywhere close to the Farmers Market?"_ Jack asked curiously.

"_They have an access corridor that runs between them I believe. Why?" _Porter asked as the door into the building opened, revealing a changing room for divers and Big Daddies.

"_It explains why I kept running into Splicers dressed in football uniforms there, that's all."_ Jack said as they walked through the Big Daddy changing room and then through a door on the opposite end. When the door opened, it revealed a large, well-lit lobby with a domed glass ceiling that was leaking a small but steady stream of water. To their left was a large gold sign that read "Andrew Ryan Sports Arena." Beneath it were four passageways into the arena that had ticket booths in between. On the other side was a neon sign that read "Rapture Metro" and beneath it was a sealed bulkhead door.

"So we're in the city. What do we do now?" Eleanor asked as Jack held up the genetic key he had received from the Little Sisters upon killing Fontaine ten years ago.

"We get to Hephaestus and plug this into the central computer in my father's old office. Once we've done that, we can set the city to self-destruct." Jack said as he pocketed the key again.

"How do we get there?" Eleanor asked curiously.

"We should be able to take one of the Rapture Metro Bathysphere's there. Come on." Jack said as they started walking towards the Rapture Metro bulkhead. Before they could however, they heard the whirring of a security bot's rotors along with its usual chirping. They turned and saw a single security bot but with pink-purple lights and with a television screen attached to it. The screen then flashed on with a pink hued image of person staring at the screen with a single angry eye.

"_What is this? An Alpha Series, a Big Sister, and…what's this? I'm not familiar with your model! Big Sister you're out of uniform!"_ A man's filtered voice hissed through the speakers on the bot.

"Gilbert Alexander!" Eleanor exclaimed, Subject Delta's memories of him surfacing in her mind. The bot turned and "glared" at her with two pink eyes on the screen.

"_How __dare__ you address me in such a common tone! Just for that, I'm docking your pay for a month! In future, I would like to __remind__ you that I am to be addressed as __Alex the Great__!"_ Alex the Great ordered.

"It's the ADAM in him. He was the test subject for what I would become. I would be as insane as he is now had I not had the ADAM slug in me to begin with." Eleanor said.

"Sure explains why he's acting madder than a March hare." Jack mumbled.

"_What was that? __What was that!?__ Insolence! Your employee reviews will reflect poorly on this! Security, escort this, __former__ employee, out of the building __immediately__!"_ Alex the Great ordered as the bot flew up and into the air just as the doors to the arena opened and out swarmed an entire football team's worth of Thuggish Splicers.

"Uh-oh! Here they come!" Jack shouted as he opened fire on the Splicers with his machine gun. Eleanor quickly teleported up and onto an overhead railing before diving into the sea of Splicers, cutting them down with the needle and literally incinerating them with her Plasmids. Porter didn't waste any time and just charged into them with his drill spinning at full speed. Jack had to quickly switch to his wrench when the Splicers started getting too close. They were beginning to lose ground when Alex the Great started talking again.

"_Quit fooling around! I said to escort them out of the building-…"_ Alex yelled before the security bot suddenly exploded.

"What was that?" Porter asked as he hurled an Incinerate charge at a group of Splicers. Before either Jack or Eleanor could reply, they had their answer in the form of a swarm of security drones with blue lights firing machine guns. But strangely enough, the bots weren't firing at the three of them, but at the Splicers. From out of a previously unnoticed side access panel, a number of turrets appeared with their guns firing. One of them was also a rocket turret. What was even more baffling was that the turrets were actually moving out into room on various forms of motorized wheels beneath the turret's main body. Some of them had metal plating attached to them in various spots too. They had become robotic tanks. The Splicers immediately turned and started running when the tanks came out but were quickly put down by the machines, leaving none of them alive. Jack, Eleanor, and Porter were stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"What…just…happened?" Jack asked as the turrets and bots started to disperse. Then another bot flew in only this one was armed with an Ion Laser and with a service radio being held in a small claw. The radio then started flashing with a red light before a man's voice crackled through with a thick Irish accent.

"_Hullo? Hullo there! Sorry about Alex the Great there. He's gone mad from all the ADAM in his system."_ The man on the other end said. Jack seemed to suddenly stiffen at the sound of his voice.

"We can see that. But where did all these security bots come from?" Porter asked as Jack started removing his helmet.

"_Oh they're my only defense against Alex and his Splicers. I've modified as many of the bots and turrets as I can get my hands on and they seem to do well enough in keeping the Splicers back."_ The man said before Jack ripped the radio free from the bot and held it up close to his face.

"Who is this?" He asked with an angry snarl.

"_Who me, boyo? Why the name's Atlas."_ The man replied, stunning Porter and Eleanor while Jack tightened his grip around the radio.

"Atlas? You mean Frank Fontaine?! I killed you! I saw you die! We all saw your rotting corpse just a few minutes ago!" Jack shouted into the radio.

"_Frank Fontaine is dead. Atlas lives. I'm not the same Atlas you knew, boyo. Yeah I know who you are. You're the son of Andrew Ryan. I led you astray with the whole, Would-you-kindly act and I'm as sorry about that as I can be."_ Atlas replied.

"Atlas? But how can he…Vita-Chamber?" Eleanor asked.

"Impossible, we just saw his corpse!" Jack argued.

"_Like I said, I'm not the __same__ Atlas. I know who the rest of you are too. Miss Eleanor Lamb, daughter of Sofia Lamb. And Mister Charles Milton Porter, it's so good to see you again."_ Atlas said, causing Jack and Eleanor to turn and give Porter curious looks.

"I don't recall ever meeting you, Atlas. And I know I never met Frank Fontaine either." Porter said, confused.

"_Perhaps not but regardless, I need your help. Alex is tryin' to take over Rapture. I don't know what his goal is but I'd rather see the city destroyed than fall into his hands." _Atlas said.

"Why should we believe you?" Jack asked, still skeptical of Atlas and his motives.

"It's true. If Atlas, or rather Fontaine, is dead. Then who are you and why should we believe you?" Porter asked.

"_Look, this isn't getting us anywhere and Alex is bound to send more Splicers after you now that he's lost contact with his Splicers out here. Head inside the arena and find your way to the arena security center, we'll talk more there. Oh and you can keep the radio, I've got plenty."_ Atlas said before the light on the radio dimmed out.

"How can Atlas be alive? He's dead!" Jack said, putting his helmet back on.

"He's also the one who saved our lives just now. Look, Atlas, or whoever he is, may be our only hope of getting to Hephaestus. We need to get to the security center in the arena." Porter said.

"Even though it could be a trap?" Jack asked.

"We don't really have much choice. If we're going to destroy Rapture, we might need his help." Eleanor said as she started walking towards the arena entrance. Porter started following after her. Jack attempted to head for the Rapture Metro but unfortunately the bulkhead was sealed shut and the opening mechanisms had been damaged in the fight. He sighed before turning and running after them. As soon as they passed the ticket booths, they found themselves in a long corridor that went either direction and lined with concessions stands filled with long spoiled food and carts filled with tattered and broken souvenirs. As they started walking through the abandoned hall, following the signs towards the Security Center, they heard the slow steady footsteps and the monster-like moans of a Big Daddy. They then saw it, emerging from one of the entrances to the arena stands, was a Big Daddy that looked similar to the Alpha Series only more advanced. The radio then crackled to life again…

"_Watch it, that there's a Lancer. A newer Big Daddy model. It doesn't appear to have a Sister-bot with him so-…"_ Atlas said before getting interrupted…

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, what do you mean, Sister-bot?" Jack asked. Before Atlas could answer, they heard a mechanical whirring sound along with what sounded like hollow metal footsteps. Then out from the same hallway the Lancer had emerged from, followed what appeared to be a little girl with a strange glowing red pack slung over its left shoulder and holding a Little Sister syringe in its right hand. The ADAM jar on the back of the needle however, had a tube that ran to the pack. The girl's eyes glowed yellow like a Little Sister but her skin was a battleship grey and every move she made produced a mechanical sound while a small light over the left breast glowed blue. The girl was dressed in the same dirty smock like the Little Sisters wore too.

"Is that a child or a…or a machine?" Eleanor asked, startled. They watched the girl start following the Lancer. The Lancer even motioned for it to follow him.

"_That's__ a Sister-bot. They were designed to collect larger quantities of ADAM and since they're machines, the ADAM doesn't affect them. However, attacking them will still get the attention of the Big Daddy."_ Atlas replied.

"I don't understand. Who built this thing?" Jack asked.

"I remember finding something similar to this before I left Rapture. It was a bunch of Robotic Little Sisters, only they couldn't get the Big Daddies to react to them. Apparently someone managed to fix the problem." Porter said as they started following the pair.

"_When the Little Sisters all disappeared two years ago, someone found a way to continue the collection of ADAM through the Sister-bots, modifying them so that they emitted a pheromone signature the Big Daddies would react to. They can't produce ADAM but they can collect and store it. Would you kindly __not__ attack it?" _Atlas asked asthe Lancer unwittingly lead them towards a Little Sister Vent. Sitting on the ledge at the base of the vent was an empty glass container in what looked like a crudely repurposed bottled-milk carrying basket. The Sister-Bot immediately turned and approached the base of the vent, raised its left arm, causing a hose to extend from under its wrist and into the container. A second later, the ADAM in the tank on its back started draining out through the hose and into the empty container. After a moment, the tank on its back was empty and the container was filled to the brim with ADAM. The Sister-Bot proceeded to turn, the hose on its arm retracted, and started walking away with the Lancer in toe. As the pair continued down the hall, the four heard the sound of more security bots and sure enough they saw three bots fly in, two armed with grenade launchers and the other equipped with two mechanical arms, one of the arms carrying an empty ADAM container. It then proceeded to pick up the filled container and leave the empty one behind before flying off.

"That's weird." Jack muttered as they continued down the hall. They finally came to a doorway labeled "Security Center."

"Here's our stop." Eleanor said as they opened the door and walked into the pitch black office. As they did however, the door suddenly slammed shut behind them, plunging them into darkness.

"I don't like the looks of this." Porter said as they prepped their weapons and Plasmids. They then saw a bright grey flickering light on the wall against the door. They turned towards the front and saw a large television screen behind some windows. The screen was showing the basic "Please Stand By" message as it came into focus. Then it switched to an image of a silhouetted figure sitting behind a desk with his fingers interlocked.

"_Well, it seems we have some vagrants, freebooters, vagabonds! In __my__ city! Well, you can just forget about getting a share of the loot! Everything in this city, the machines, the ADAM, the city __itself__, is all mine. I've searched for this city for years and no one, is going to take it from me!"_ The man on the screen said with a laugh, his voice mechanically distorted.

"Who are you? Is it you, Atlas?" Jack asked but the man merely laughed.

"_Please. Atlas is the least of your concern. Oh, and I think it's time you get acquainted with my new family. I hope you've enjoyed your time here in Rapture, since you're now about to be…__ejected__!"_ The man said just as they heard the yelling of a large horde of deranged Splicers outside the door as they pounded on it mercilessly, but the Splicers were the least of their worries as a blood curdling and animalistic shriek echoed deafeningly through the halls.

"It's a Big Sister!" Eleanor exclaimed as they heard another shriek.

"That one came from another direction! Lord Almighty there's two of them!" Porter exclaimed before a third shriek was heard.

"Uh oh!" Jack exclaimed as they saw the door to the security center start getting cut open by the Splicers with a cutting torch. They then heard the figure on the screen laugh menacingly.

_"Well this day just keeps getting better and better!" _The man said with a maniacal laugh before the screen suddenly went to static and a black-and-white image of one of the "Who is Atlas" posters appeared on the screen.

"_It's Alexander! He's found ya! I've managed to override the controls to the doors leading into the security center atrium behind ya! There're three ways out! Choose one and run! I'm sendin' some help your way! Hang in there!"_ Atlas shouted through the screen as the windows in front of the television slid open like a sliding glass door. A long row of lights started switching on, illuminating two hallways that went around the Television and met back up behind it. The three wasted no time, turning and running down the hall as fast as they could. They heard the door sliding shut behind them followed by the sound of breaking glass less than a second later along with the shrieking of the Big Sisters. Eleanor quickly used Telekinesis to pick up a fallen Bouncer Big Daddy corpse and hurl it down the hall at the Big Sisters. Sadly it only hit one, dazing her before leaping free of the corpse and continuing the pursuit.

"They're gaining!" Eleanor shouted before they passed a pair of turrets with blue lights on them. The second they passed the turrets, the turrets opened fire on the Big Sisters, but they didn't fire bullets, they opened fire with Electric Gel. The gel stunned two of the Sisters but the third one used her telekinesis to rip the turrets to shreds. The two injured sisters then turned and stabbed two of the Splicers behind them with their syringes, draining their health to replenish their own before dropping the two lifeless corpses and continuing the pursuit. Jack, Porter, and Eleanor however reached a three way fork in the road. A sign above the middle road read "Farmers Market" while the one to the right read "Ryan Amusements," and the one to the left read "Rhea Suites."

"Which way do we go?" Jack asked as they skid to a halt outside the passageways. Their minds were made for them when the Big Sisters appeared behind them.

"Just run!" Eleanor shouted before the three of them started running down the different passageways, Porter taking the route to the Farmers Market, Eleanor to Rhea Suites, and Jack to Ryan Amusements. The Big Sisters gave pursuit, following them into the tunnels. Jack looked ahead and saw the bulkhead ahead of him starting to close. He quickly dove for the hole, just making it through before the door shut completely, trapping the Big Sister outside. He then heard what sounded like an explosion and then saw streams of water squirting out from between the cracks in the wall. There certainly wasn't any going back now. His radio then crackled to life again.

"_Whew, well, I'd say that was an experience best left forgotten. Wouldn't ya say son?" _A man's voice with a deep southern drawl asked.

"Who's this?" Jack asked.

"_Why where are my manners? The name's Sinclair, Augustus Sinclair."_

* * *

**End Chapter 1…**

**Please R&amp;R.**


	2. Separated

"_Thirteen years…Thirteen years since the first foundations of Rapture were laid down and already the Parasites have found their way in. First it was Lamb…then Fontaine…and now Atlas. What has become of my city? Urban warfare floods the streets and the people don't realize that they're playing right into Atlas's hands. Soon they'll want government censors, nationalization of private enterprise. Well if I can't convince them otherwise, I'll give them no choice. I think it's time to give that pheromone idea of Suchong's a try." _

Andrew Ryan  
"Thirteen Years."

* * *

Eleanor was running down the glass corridor with a Big Sister and a swarm of Splicers in pursuit. She looked ahead and saw the bulkhead ahead was closing. She quickly teleported to the opposite side of the bulkhead just in time for it to slam shut. No sooner had the door shut she heard the sound of shattering glass, rushing water, and screams as the Splicers on the other side of the bulkhead were claimed by the ocean. Eleanor took a moment to catch her breath, and as she did she looked around at where she was. She was in a tall building similar to Olympus Heights only not as upscale and lacking a central elevator to a penthouse suite. The central staircase was there however, spiraled around a centralized steel column that held up an elegant glass roof that was leaking slightly. A sign ahead of her read "Rhea Suites."

"Where am I?" She asked. She instantly began to resent her mother, the late Dr. Sofia Lamb, again for her refusal to let Eleanor explore the city. And much of her memories of Rapture as a Little Sister were blurred and vague so she was utterly and completely lost. All she had to draw on were Subject Delta's limited memories but he had never ventured into Rhea Suites so his memories were of no use to her at the moment. Then she remembered Porter and Ryan. Neither of them were with her and so not only was she lost, she was completely alone.

"Mr. Ryan?! Mr. Porter?! Mr. Meltzer?! Are you there? Can you hear me?" She asked worriedly into her suit's radio but all she received was static.

"Can anyone hear me? This is Eleanor Lamb calling on the radio! I'm in somewhere called Rhea Suites! Can anyone hear me?" Eleanor called but again static. She sighed in defeat, slumping over slightly before looking up. She looked around and saw a "Who is Atlas" poster next to a street sign that was attached to a corridor. As she started to approach the corridor, she heard voices coming from near the base of the iron support column in the center of the room. She quickly ducked behind a column under the walkway to the floor above, peeking out slightly to see a trio of Splicers keeping warm by a fire lit inside an empty oil drum in the far corner of the room. One of the Splicers was eating from a can of fruit while one held a revolver and another held a lead pipe.

"-hurt's like hell ya know!" The Leadhead Splicer said, spinning the cylinder of the revolver with his thumb.

"I just want that cache of ADAM that Atlas's hordin'." The Splicer eating the canned fruit said before taking a bite of fruit.

"But Atlas kills everyone he can with those damned flying tin cans! What's gotten into him?" the Thuggish Splicer, a woman, said swinging the pipe around erratically.

"Hey, watch where ya swing that pipe, lady!" the Leadhead warned.

"Atlas don't kill everyone though." The Splicer with the fruit can, said.

"Oh shut up, Lawrence! Not this crap again!" the Leadhead groaned.

"But-but I-…" the fruit can Splicer whimpered before being drowned out by the berating from his fellow Splicers. Eleanor however was curious now. She quickly shifted to her Telekinesis plasmid and whirled out from around the pillar before using her powers to yank the Leadhead and Thuggish Splicers towards her, impaling them both on her ADAM needle then tossing them away before pulling the lone Splicer towards her. Instead of impaling him on the needles she caught him by the throat and held him close. The Splicer was understandably petrified.

"What do you know about Atlas? Tell me!" Eleanor asked as the Splicer whimpered.

"I-I-I dunno! I only hear rumors! O'Malley knows the dirt! I swear by it!" the Splicer whimpered.

"And where is this O'Malley?" Eleanor asked threateningly, the light from her helmet turning a menacing shade of red.

"Sh-sh-sh-sh-she's in the Control Room under the street! B-b-b-b-but you can't get to her! She's locked herself inside! She gives her orders over the P.A!" the Splicer spluttered fearfully. Eleanor raised her right needle threateningly, pointing it to his chin.

"Is that the truth?" Eleanor asked but before Lawrence could answer, they heard a metal clattering. Eleanor looked down and saw a black can with a lit fuse attached to it. It was a grenade. Eleanor quickly dropped Lawrence and teleported clear just before the grenade went off, killing the Splicer. Eleanor reappeared nearby and looked up to see a Nitro Splicer chucking grenades at her.

"Keep away! Keep away from me!" the Splicer shouted as he continued chucking grenades. Eleanor quickly used her telekinesis and launched one of the grenades back at him, killing him. Suddenly she heard alarms sounding in the area.

"_Intruder alert! Intruder Alert! Security Bulkheads Engaged!" _a prerecorded female voice reported over the P.A. system. Eleanor began looking around for more when suddenly she heard the feedback of the P.A. coming on again.

"_So you're one of the Parasites who found Rapture just a moment ago, are ya? Well you may have a Big Sister's armor and a few Plasmids, but Big Sister ain't nothin' compared to Big Kate! Come and get me ya little prick!"_ A woman's voice taunted over the radio.

"Big Kate? Big Kate O'Malley?" Eleanor asked. Subject Delta's memories recalled a couple Audio Diaries of Big Kate O'Malley. Eleanor then turned and looked around just as the radio crackled to life again.

"_Hello? Hello! Is someone there?!" _a woman's voice asked over the radio.

Who is this?" Eleanor asked.

"_Oh thank God. You're the first person I've heard from in…well…years I suppose. Listen, I need your help. I'm trapped somewhere here in Rapture and I can't get out. The name's Elizabeth by the way."_

* * *

**In the Farmer's Market…**

Porter staggered through a bulkhead into the Farmer's Market, the bulkhead slamming shut behind him before hearing an explosion followed by the sound of rushing water. Porter silently turned towards the bulkhead, water pouring slowly through the cracks, before turning back towards the front. The bulkhead was in a part of the Farmer's Market that had been blocked off by debris when Jack was there but had since been cleared. He raised his Ion Laser and began slowly walking through the deserted Farmer's Market, passing stalls of rotten fruits, vegetables, and spoiled meats and cheeses. He then heard his radio crackle to life.

"_Mr. Porter! Mr. Ryan! Miss Lamb! Can anyone of you hear me?"_ Atlas called.

"I can hear you Atlas. I'm fine. Damn Big Sister nearly got me though." Porter replied as he stopped in one of the glass tunnels near the Worley Winery and the Silverwing Apiary, receiving a sigh of relief from Atlas.

"_Oh thank heaven you're alright. I've lost contact with Miss Lamb and Mr. Ryan's gotten in touch with one of my Lieutenants. So where are you?"_ Atlas asked.

"The Farmer's Market. I'm near the Worley Winery." Porter replied.

"_Say again boyo. Did you say you were in the Farmer's Market?"_ Atlas asked worriedly.

"Yes, why?" Porter asked wearily. There was a pause before Atlas came back on the radio.

"_You're in Alexander's territory. His Splicers have all of the Farmer's Market and Arcadia. Oddly though they seem to have abandoned the Farmer's Market and headed on over into Arcadia. We're fightin' to keep 'em out of Neptune's Bounty but things aren't lookin' good. Perhaps you can help relieve the stress from my men? Would ya kindly?" _Atlas asked as Porter shrugged.

"Will helping you, get me back in touch with the others?" Porter asked.

"_Actually it might. There's a Rapture Metro station in Neptune's Bounty that's still functional. Damn Splicers are using the one in Arcadia to shuttle in reinforcements. You'll have to cut through them to get to the Bathysphere."_ Atlas replied.

"Alright, I'll help. But I'm not holding my breath regarding your loyalty, Fontaine." Porter said as he started walking through the corridors of the Farmer's Market.

"_Relax Mr. Porter, I understand your hesitance to work with me. Regardless, I'm sending you some help. There'll be a Pneumo near the access bulkhead to Arcadia and inside is some of the ADAM the Little Brothers have collected. Better for you to have it than let those damn Splicers have it. Think of it as…a welcome home present."_ Atlas said as Porter approached the exit to the Farmer's Market that lead to the bulkhead doors that connected it to Arcadia. As he did, he heard a metallic thunk. He turned and saw a Pneumo. Porter reached inside and sure enough, there was a plastic pouch full of Adam with a big label printed on it reading "500 ADAM."

"Well…I'm impressed so far." Porter mumbled as he stowed the pouch away within his suit, injecting the fresh ADAM into his body.

"_That's not all, Mr. Porter. I'm also putting you in touch with one of my Scouts. He's trustworthy enough but I wouldn't leave him with anything you want to keep secret. He's hiding out in Arcadia, not sure where exactly. We'll talk again once you get to Neptune's Bounty. Good luck Mr. Porter."_ Atlas said as Porter stepped into the bulkhead access doors, closing the Farmer's Market door behind him.

"_Well hello there sir, I don't think we've met before."_ Another man's voice said over the radio.

"Who's this?" Porter asked as he started opening the door to Arcadia.

"_Why the name's Stan Poole, formerly of the Rapture Tribune, now of Atlas's Army."_

* * *

**Back in Point Prometheus…**

Mark Meltzer was sitting in the doorway of the bathysphere, helmet on, and grenade launcher primed and ready to take on anyone who dared attack him or his specially modified turrets. The turrets were unique in that they could remain active indefinitely and even be picked back up and redeployed elsewhere. He had been alone for only a few minutes and already he was worried about his comrades, their radios all going silent shortly after he heard that they had entered Heracles Hall. He was standing up to stretch his legs when his radio crackled to life.

"_Ah, yes. You are a very troubled mind my friend."_ A soothingly calm man's voice said through the radio.

"Who is this?" Mark asked, confused.

"_Peace friend. I am not your enemy. I am the once famed mystic, Suresh Sheti. I am a Lieutenant of Atlas."_ The man said.

"Atlas? From what I heard, Atlas was the true identity of Frank Fontaine and he's dead." Mark said, staring at Fontaine's corpse nearby.

"_I am aware of Fontaine's duplicity. But the Atlas I follow is not the same. He is a true liberator. Come seek me out. I am in the Failsafe Armored Escorts on the bottom floor below you." _Suresh instructed but Mark refused.

"I can't. I've got a duty to perform for my friends and I'm not leaving them high and dry…so to speak." Mark replied.

"_I understand, my friend. Perhaps another ti-(Static)."_ Suresh said before the radio was filled with static. Mark looked around as if startled as a new voice came in over the radio.

"_Well, look what we 'ave 'ere mates! Parasites with a Bathy o' their own! Time ta send 'em all tit's up!"_ a woman's voice with a thick Australian accent shouted over the radio. Mark quickly spun around towards the Bathysphere in time for the building to shake as if hit by something causing a part of the floor to blowout nearby. Whoever it was on the radio was obviously trying to hit the Bathysphere.

"_Damn! Missed! Oh well, more where that came from! Time for the next round!" _the woman's voice cackled. Mark quickly slammed the door shut to the Bathysphere and with a press of a button on his left arm, all four of his modified mini-turrets deactivated and returned to their portable state. He quickly collected them before rushing towards the hole in the floor that Jack, Eleanor, and Porter had jumped into earlier. Before he could reach it, the Bathysphere exploded in a ball of fire that was quickly replaced by an inward rush of seawater but luckily Mark had already jumped into the hole, dropping safely into the water filled building and floating gently down.

"_Yeah! That's it for the Parasites! Betta tell Alex the Great the good news. Probably'll get some ADAM outta it."_ The woman's voice declared triumphantly. As Mark descended, he noticed out some of the windows and holes in the wall what appeared to be another bathysphere only armed with torpedoes moving away from the building. Mark landed on the floor of the flooded room with the hole in the wall. He sighed and leapt down, letting the water slowly lower him downward.

"What am I gonna tell the others? They entrusted me with protecting the Bathysphere and I've let them down." Mark sighed despairingly as he continued his descent.

"_Do not blame yourself, my friend. Mr. Alexander is to blame for your Bathysphere's destruction, not you."_ Suresh said as Mark landed on the sea floor.

"I won't be able to live with myself if I can't find a replacement Bathysphere." Mark sighed.

"_Then allow me to help you my friend. Come inside and let us speak in person."_ Suresh said. Mark turned around and saw the doors to the airlock into Point Prometheus's first floor open up, the lights inside the airlock switching on. Mark hesitated but finally walked inside the airlock, switching the lever from "Flood" to "Drain." As soon as the water had drained out, the door opened. Inside was a dark skinned man in a tattered white suit and trousers with a weathered and beaten red sash running from his right shoulder to his left hip. The suit jacket was worn open, revealing the man's chest and had a withered red rose in the lapel. He had a battered white turban on his head with a thin black feather that had obviously seen better days. His face however was normal on his left side but divided evenly down the center of his face and covering the entire right side was white face makeup, but even the makeup couldn't hide the splicing induced growths and contusions on his face. The man was also holding a magician's cane. The man smiled warmly and opened his arms widely.

"Welcome my friend. I have been expecting you." The man, Suresh by the sound of his voice, said as Mark cautiously entered the building from the airlock.

"You're Suresh?" Mark asked and the man nodded with a humble bow.

"You are correct my friend. I would welcome you to Rapture but I sense this is not your first visit." Suresh said as he stood up.

"No. In fact this is my second visit." Mark replied as he cautiously put a hand on his launcher's firing mechanism. He didn't quite know what to make of the Spliced Mystic.

"I didn't doubt my senses when I felt the mind of a Big Daddy nearby. But the thoughts were so clear and so precise that I knew this was no ordinary Big Daddy. No, you have been freed from your curse." Suresh said as he led Mark through the large chamber full of largely dismantled guns, scavenged machine parts, and salvaged metal plates along with what appeared to be a number of self-operating machines constructing the turrets he so regularly saw around Rapture but putting motorized wheels on the bottom allowing them to move. He also saw a strange abundance of security robots flying overhead, some of them armed with machine guns, grenade launchers, Ion Lasers, shock sticks, and some of them even equipped only with two mechanical claws.

"Yeah, I was." Mark said, distracted by the odd amount of traffic in the area.

"You seem surprised by all of this." Suresh said, snapping Mark back to reality.

"Hmm? Oh yes. I'm afraid I'm clueless as to what's going on here." Mark said as Suresh led him to the security office.

"I understand completely, my friend. Allow me to put you in touch with someone who can help you." Suresh said as they entered the security office and immediately Suresh switched on a television screen.

"Suresh Sheti calling Atlas. I have our fourth guest here with me." Suresh said as the screen flickered slightly before an image of one of the "Who is Atlas" posters appeared on the screen.

"_Suresh you're a man of many talents. Well I assume that the Rumbler with you is a friend of Mr. Porter's, Mr. Ryan's, and Miss Lamb's. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Atlas. Not the same Atlas that you've probably heard of, but I'll be happy to be of service."_ Atlas said as Suresh respectfully bowed towards Mark and backed away, standing against a nearby wall as Mark moved closer to the screen.

"My name is Mark Meltzer. I came here two years ago looking for my daughter Cindy. She was taken to become a Little Sister but we both made it out." Mark said.

"_Yes, I've heard of you Mr. Meltzer. I gotta admire the level of dedication you have as a father. But I don't envy you your fate as one of those tin cans."_Atlas said as Mark sighed.

"Thank you sir, but I really need to get moving. I need to procure a new Bathysphere for myself and my comrades." Mark said.

"_Then perhaps I can give you a hand. Since Alex the Great managed to override the genetic locks on the Bathyspheres, he's been tryin' to use 'em against us. It was all I could do to lock the bathyspheres to automated travel throughout the city so they couldn't use them to leave for the surface. Perhaps we can help each other out."_ Atlas said, earning an unseen yet curious look from Mark.

"How?" Mark asked.

"_Alex the Great controls the Rapture Metro Bathysphere hub. If we could find a way to reinitialize the genetic locks then it'll effectively end his control of the bathyspheres and also provide you with unlimited access to a new one. My forces score a major victory against Alex the Great and you and your friends get a new bathysphere. It's a win-win situation." _Atlas explained.

"I don't even know where that is." Mark replied.

"_That's the hard part. It can't be accessed from within the city itself, at least, not anymore. The tunnels leading to it are flooded, blocked, or in some cases, both. However that's where your…condition, comes in handy." _Atlas said.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"_You've got that diving suit and your mind is still your own. You could probably just take a walk through the ocean and walk right into the Metro Hub. The airlock should still be functional."_ Atlas explained.

"Only how would I know where to go. I don't know this place well enough and I've never used the Rapture Metro before except to enter or leave Rapture." Mark said.

"_That's easy enough of a fix. Remember I mentioned that the bathyspheres were locked to automated travel? Well for that to work, the Metro relies on a series of short range signal broadcasters to remotely guide the bathyspheres to their destinations. There should be a Bathysphere in the Metro Station on your end. Suresh will help you retrieve the signal box in the Bathysphere but the hard part is that Alexander's Splicers are tryin' to get into Point Prometheus __from__ the Metro Station. You'll have to fight your way through them." _Atlas explained.

"I will be proud to aid you in the fight, Mr. Meltzer." Suresh said as Mark glanced at him slightly then pulled a Chemical Sprayer out from a watertight satchel on his back. It was originally the one Jack had carried on his trip to Rapture but had been fully upgraded by the Power to the People machines and heavily modified by Jack to allow for faster and easier reloading.

"Alright Atlas. I'll do it, but I sure hope I'm not making a deal with the devil by doing this." Mark said.

"_You may not have reason to trust me, Mr. Meltzer, and I know nothing I can say will make you believe me, so I'll let my actions speak for me. One of my security bots are bringin' up a little present for you right now. Mind the bite, it's pretty powerful."_ Atlas said as the door into the security office slid open, revealing one of the security bots carrying a brown colored bottle which it handed off to Suresh before flying away. Suresh then proceeded to kneel down on one knee, presenting the bottle to Mark like he were a king. The bottle was designed to look like a cowboy riding a horse that was rearing back on it hind legs.

"What is it?" Mark asked, looking it over.

"A rare, drinkable plasmid. Probably the last in all of Rapture. For you, my friend." Suresh replied.

"Uh I'm not too sure about this. I've seen what happens to people who use too much ADAM." Mark said hesitantly.

"The choice is yours Mr. Meltzer. It won't be forced upon you." Suresh said.

"I'll hold onto it for now. It may come in handy later." Mark said as he took the bottle and put it the watertight satchel before he and Suresh walked out of the security office, Suresh pulling out some form of gun from under his jacket as he stepped in front of Meltzer, keeping an eye out for Splicers.

"Do you know how to use that thing?" Mark asked.

"I am a veteran of the Rapture Civil War my friend. I am no stranger to weaponry such as this." Suresh said as they stepped out into the large open area outside the Failsafe Armored Escorts building, unsure of what lay ahead.

* * *

**End Chapter 2.**

**Please R&amp;R…**


	3. Ryan Amusements

"_Ryan Amusements?! _(Laughs)_ Are you kiddin' me?! _(Laughs even harder, almost to the point of tears)_ Ryan builds this amusement park to try and keep the little kiddos from gettin' too nosey about goin' to the surface! _(Laughs some more)_ He doesn't realize that ya don't have to be some overpriced shrink like Lamb to figure out that whenever you tell someone __not__ to do somethin' they immediately wanna do exactly what they're told __not__ to do! _(Laughs again then sighs in amusement)_ Me, I won't have to say 'don't do that' to get my kid to obey. He'll just kindly do as he's told." _

Frank Fontaine  
"Parenting Skills."

* * *

**In Ryan Amusements…**

"Sinclair? I've heard that name before." Jack said as he looked around. He was in a relatively small building, at least compared to the other buildings in Rapture, which connected Ryan Amusements with Heracles Hall. The building had been set up as a First Aid Clinic on one side for guests of either venue and had a small structure that housed a Waiting Room that led into a private examination room. On the other side of the building was a Rapture Metro station but the corridor to the Metro was blocked by debris with the body of a dead Bouncer pinned beneath it.

"_I run…well I suppose __ran__ probably is more correct. I __ran__ a number of rather successful businesses here in Rapture, durin' its hay day. I also had a hand in makin' those Vita-Chambers that you see around town."_ Sinclair said as Jack started cautiously rummaging through several discarded suitcases near the leaking bulkhead into Heracles Hall.

"Good to know, Sinclair, but I've heard your name from a different source." Jack replied, finding nothing but mildewed clothes and a couple dollars in the suitcases.

"_Well I imagine it's from a reputable source. No matter. Where ya headin' son?"_ Sinclair asked.

"I need to get to Hephaestus." Jack replied simply as he stepped cautiously into the waiting room of the First Aid Clinic. He found nothing but a couple of corpses and a First Aid Machine, one was a patient that had been stabbed to death with several EVE Hypos and had died across the counter and the other was a Splicer that had taken a few rounds to the back of the head, lying face first on the ground. On the counter (next to a cash register which Jack promptly looted) was an Audio Diary with a label printed on it reading "Hippocratic Oath - J.S. Steinman."

"_Hephaestus? Well what's got ya in an all-fire hurry to get there?"_ Sinclair asked as Jack took the tape from inside the Audio Diary and walked over to the First Aid Machine.

"It's personal." Jack replied as he pulled out an Automatic-Hack-tool that had been noticeably modified. He then proceeded to plug it into a slot on the First Aid Machine and pulled the trigger on the tool, instantly causing the light on the machine to flash green, indicating a successful hack. Jack had modified the Auto-Hack-tool himself so he could use it an unlimited number of times.

"_Well I won't keep askin' then. But you ain't gettin' to Hephaestus without somethin' to clear through the debris at the Metro Station. Don't suppose you got some explosives on ya?"_ Sinclair asked as Jack holstered the hack-tool and reached around for something on his back.

"Yeah I've got a-…" Jack said but suddenly froze. He started feeling around for something that was apparently not there.

"Damn it, I must have dropped my Launcher in the tunnels!" Jack groaned.

"_My condolences to you son, but you know, I think I might know where you can find a replacement or at least somethin' near enough to get through that debris there. There's two or three of those Ammo Bandito machines in the park up yonder, so maybe you can coax one of them into coughin' up something that can clear that debris."_ Sinclair said as Jack glanced out the window towards a bulkhead door that led to Ryan Amusements. Jack found the notion of "Ryan Amusements" rather un-amusing.

"It's a start. I need to think. Can you give me a moment?" Jack asked as he stepped around the counter, intent on scouring the clinic for anything useful he could use.

"_I'll keep in touch via the radio, just in case somethin' comes up."_ Sinclair said as the radio went silent. Jack quietly took the opportunity to put the tape from the Audio-Diary into the built-in player in his suit's radio and cued it up.

"_Dr. Howard, I am aware that part of the Hippocratic Oath is 'do no harm' but down here in Rapture, that rule also applies towards harming your __employer's__finances__. I've been going through your patient logs, Howard, and you've been recommending that more than half of your patients use the First Aid dispenser! __That__ is __not__ what I hired you for! I told you on __day one__, to only use that machine when there's standing room only in the waiting room and to see each and every patient that comes in otherwise. That way, we can actually get __paid__ for our treating their little bumps and bruises. Every time you refer one of them to that glorified medical swami, you're putting more money into, that stooge, Dr. Fine's accounts instead of mine!"_ The voice of Dr. Steinman berated as Jack rummaged through the cabinets of the examination room. The memory of Jack's encounter with Steinman sent chills down his spine. He could still clearly remember finding Steinman's "art" scattered throughout the Medical Pavilion. He only found a few boxes of bandages in the cabinets. Behind him was the examination chair with a corpse lying on it wearing a lab coat with the name "Dr. S. Howard" partially visible through the dried bloodstains. It was obvious that the poor Doctor had become one of Steinman's victims as his face was horribly distorted and not by the usual growths caused by constant Splicing. The biggest clue that Steinman was the culprit however was Steinman's signature written in blood on the wall.

As Jack moved on to search the doctor's body, he heard the sound of footsteps outside. He quickly ducked down, spotting a Thuggish Splicer carrying a golf club on his shoulder, walking through the waiting room. Jack silently pulled out his wrench while powering up his Electro Bolt plasmid. The Splicer didn't act like he was aware Jack was there. Jack took a deep breath and then proceeded to let out his best Big Daddy moan, causing the Splicer to nearly jump out of his skin and run out of the clinic.

"IT-WASN'T-ME!" the Splicer screamed as he ran out, Jack unable to keep from smirking at the fleeting Splicer. He then immediately regretted his decision as he heard a lot more footsteps coming towards the clinic coupled with the death threats of several other Splicers. Jack immediately burst up and out from his hiding place with a swing of his wrench, smashing through the skull of one of the Splicers before turning and hitting one with an Electro Bolt. He quickly switched to his pistol, shooting another one in the head, killing it before ducking a swing from the one he shocked. He then turned and shot the Splicer in the leg, causing it to stagger backwards and onto the floor long enough for Jack to quickly leap into the air and land on its head, smashing it under foot. He then felt another Splicer strike him in the back with a pipe but his Armored Shell tonic and diving suit absorbing much of the damage while his Static Discharge tonic sent out a powerful burst of electricity, killing the Splicer with the discharge. Jack did a quick headcount, and saw two Splicers were left, the Thuggish one with the golf club and a Leadhead running up with a pistol. Jack quickly ducked and rolled to the side as the Leadhead fired a few rounds through the windows. Jack quickly threw down a Cyclone Trap on the floor and ceiling right in front of the door just as the Thuggish one stepped inside, immediately getting flung up into the ceiling before getting powered into the floor where Jack finished him off by bringing down his wrench on the Splicer's skull. When he did, he heard the Leadhead firing at him from outside the clinic. He took a round to the shoulder but the bullets ricocheted off his armor as he picked up the golf club off the ground and used telekinesis to launch the golf-club towards the Leadhead, skewering him through the chest.

"Damn Splicers." Jack mumbled as he climbed onto his feet and started walking out into the main room. He was suddenly startled as he heard what sounded like a college fight-song start playing over the P.A. system.

"_Ooh and it's a line-drive for the Parasite as he scores the first touchdown of the game for Atlas's Losers! The crowd isn't too happy here folks!"_ a man's voice announced, making a breathy booing sound as Jack looked around.

"What the hell?" Jack asked as he raised his tommy gun, not sure what was happening. The voice then continued.

"_It looks like Alex's Apaches aren't gonna stand for it! Let's go now to the Apache's head-coach and star quarterback, Danny Wilkins! Wilkins, what's your strategy for this one? Well Danny we're gonna grind him into powder and prove that Danny Wilkins is still number one!"_ the man continued to announce as the fight song faded out. Jack was quickly realizing that the man on the radio was another insane Splicer who thought everything was a part of a football game. As Jack started rifling through the pockets of the dead splicers, his radio immediately crackled to life.

"_Danny Wilkins? Aw hell that kid must be one of Alex the Great's lieutenants now. How's that for a backstabbin'? He's probably got all of Rapture lookin' for you now, kid."_ Sinclair said as Jack picked up some pistol rounds to replace the ones he'd fired during the skirmish a moment ago.

"You sound like you know him." Jack said, reloading his pistol before switching back to his tommy gun.

"_During the Rapture Civil War, I hired a few of Rapture's citizens as product testers for Sinclair Solutions. Young Mr. Wilkins was one of the product testers."_ Sinclair said as Jack quickly shot up some EVE to revitalize his plasmids.

"Let me guess. They were testing plasmids." Jack said as he stepped inside the clinic and pulled one of the EVE hypos off the dead woman lying across the counter.

"_You catch on quick, kid. Wilkins was a fairly decent football player, might even have been able to go somewhere, that is, before he and his teammates started Splicin' to enhance their performance. Wilkins was one of about eleven of my field testers and the kid got obsessed with stayin' on top of the game. Now he kills anyone that he assumes is better than him."_ Sinclair explained as Jack walked over towards the debris blocked Rapture Metro entrance and started examining it closely.

"I'll deal with him if I have to but for now, let's focus on clearing this debris. I've already got an idea as to how I can clear it; I just need the right parts." Jack said.

"_Jim-dandy son. What've you got in mind?"_ Sinclair asked as Jack put his back to the wall next to the metro entrance, keeping an eye out for Splicers.

"If I can find the right parts, I can make a few bombs linked to a timer. I know what to lookout for I just don't know where to find them." Jack said.

"_Well, if you need parts, you might be able to cobble somethin' together over at Ryan Amusements. Hope ya don't mind swimmin' through some Splicer's though. The place is crawlin' with 'em."_ Sinclair said as Jack sighed and started towards the tunnel to Ryan Amusements.

"I've dealt with Splicers before. This isn't my first time in Rapture." Jack said, raising his machine gun, ready for a fight. The tunnel led him to an area that connected up with the passage from the Atlantic Express Station towards the park. As Jack entered the waiting area outside the park gates, he noticed that the door into the park had been ripped off the wall, allowing unhindered admittance to the park. It was just as well too since the passageway into the security station had collapsed and water was trickling through the cracks. Jack pressed on, stepping inside Ryan Amusements. The manikin next to the "Free Sample" stage had fallen over and the free Gene Tonic samples had all been ripped out of the machine, stolen by the Splicers.

Jack could hear the rambling of a splicer nearby. He stepped out to the left, his machine gun ready to fire at a moment's notice. As he did, he saw the Splicer on the landing below, tinkering with a rocket turret. The turret had been damaged or deactivated as the light that normally indicated whether it was friendly or hostile was completely off and the turret was tilted forward towards the ground. Jack quietly put away the machine gun and drew his pistol, his other hand held up with his Electro Bolt plasmid ready to fire. He drew a little closer to the edge of the stairs near where the splicer was. The Splicer didn't see or hear him and was still tinkering with the turret. In a flash and a bang, Jack zapped the splicer and scored a headshot, dropping the splicer instantly. He quickly looked around to make sure there weren't any other Splicers to have heard the shot but none came. He then hurried down the stairs, delivering a quick hard smack to the splicer with his wrench just to make sure the splicer was dead before turning to the rocket turret, an idea forming in his head. He quickly began to remove a number of parts from the turret. He quickly found out why the turret had been deactivated: it was out of rockets. Jack then tapped the side of his helmet.

"Sinclair, I've got a new idea. Where could I find the parts for a new launcher?" Jack asked.

"_A new launcher? You sure you know how to make one, sport?" _Sinclair asked.

"I'm not just a pair of hands. I've taken apart and studied my old one dozens of times. I know how to build it. I just need the parts. I have the firing mechanisms but I need a casing to put it in. Any suggestions on where I might find something similar in this…shrine?" Jack asked, looking around at the facades on the floor above him.

"_Not sure how I can help on that one, son. You might check the old museum that Ryan built in the park. It should be on the ground floor." _Sinclair replied, Jack noticing a doorway nearby. The doorway had been built beneath the walkway against the right side from the entrance but part of the walkway overhead had collapsed and had since been cleared away. Jack quietly headed for the door which opened into an enclosed pathway that overlooked the darkened "Journey to the Surface" attraction. He took note that there were a couple of Splicers wondering through the ride area but none of them noticed him as he snuck across. He then reached a door marked with a flickering neon sign that had lost too many letters to be readable. Jack stepped through the doors into a large chamber full of statues, paintings, and objects on display. There were a couple of Big Daddy suits, Bouncer and Rosie types, stood on display nearby even. But the one thing that Jack noticed most of all upon entering was an animatronic statue of Andrew Ryan himself, a sign off to the side reading "Get your picture taken with Andrew Ryan! - $5.00." There was even a coin slot and what, at first glance, appeared to be a security camera but it was equipped with a flash bulb and a small speaker. The Animatronic came to life when Jack approached it.

"_Hello there. I am Andrew Ryan and welcome to the Hall of History. Here you can explore more of the history of Rapture's founding. See some of the wondrous things we found during the building of this fair city and more. Remember, history has lessons for us all. Enjoy the museum."_ Ryan's prerecorded voice said as the animatronic moved in synch with the words. Jack stared at the mechanized imitation of his father. His last words still haunting him.

"_A man chooses, a slave obeys."_ Ryan had said. Jack forced himself to shrug off his feelings of guilt and pressed forward, passing the animatronic and heading towards the center of the museum. As usual there were one or two corpses lying about, people who had long since died, some of the bloodstains still moist due to the cool damp air in Rapture. He passed one display and found an audio diary marked "One Week" and the name N. Carnegie. He quietly took the tape from the player and plugged it into his radio, hitting play as he continued his search.

"_It's been about a week since we got locked in this retched park. We've been having to scavenge for food and supplies. We lost Mrs. Hanson and Ms. Hollingsworth to some angry park goer in the museum. He was rambling about 'needing a fix' and he just killed them in cold blood! Took one of the museum's displays and just beat them to death with it! The children weren't there to see it. I escaped by hiding under the Sinker display! 'Bunch of flying machines flew in when he broke the display and gunned him down for tripping the security. I can't dwell on this right now. I need to keep going…for the children's sake." _Nina Carnegie had said into the diary before it shut off. Jack quietly took note of three corpses in one corner of the building, two women that had bloodied and deformed heads and a man that was slumped against the wall, riddled with gunshot wounds. He then took notice of a nearby display that seemed curious to him. It was a model of a large square shaped submarine that had a bridge shaped similarly to a Bouncer's helmet and buoyancy tanks along the sides. The top side was flat save for a single statue of a man holding a large round sphere made of rings. A plaque at the front of the display read…

"The Sinker - The most advanced submarine of its time. Designed to transport large quantities of supplies to aid in the construction of Rapture, the Sinker now sits in the very heart of Rapture."

Jack then spotted something near one of the museum's wings, a makeshift barricade that had long since fallen. As he approached, he saw the bodies of two men and a "Who is Atlas" poster lying on the floor nearby. One of the men had a number of large metal tubes lying on the ground and a few odd parts. There was also a broken Power to the People machine lying on the ground in front of the wall where it was previously mounted. One of the men was holding an audio diary. The diary was marked: "Sabotaged" and the name J. Callahan was written beneath it. Jack stepped through the barricade and picked up the diary, putting the tape in his radio and hitting play while he examined the tubes.

"_We got into Ryan Amusements today. Whole park has been sealed up since New Year's and that was four months ago! All we found was bodies. Guess everyone starved to death. Anyway, I've gotten suspicious about Mack. He keeps actin' screwy and he always seems to be able to escape without a scratch whenever Ryan's goons attack. I ain't takin' no chances this time though. I sabotaged his little grenade launcher by takin out the parts and throwin' 'em away. All he's got is a big metal tube and no ammo! Ha! I tipped off Ryan's boys too, tellin' 'em about a raid to happen in the park. That'll teach Mack not ta turn on Atlas." _a man with a Bronx accent had recorded. Jack was looking at the tubes and immediately realized their purpose. He quickly began assembling the launcher with the parts he'd removed from the turret, keeping an eye out for Splicers all the while. Within minutes he had finished building a new launcher. However his success was relatively short lived as he heard the park speakers start up with another college fight song.

"_Looks like Atlas's Losers have the ball folks! What's their next move?! Oh but here comes the Defense, folks!" _Danny Wilkins announced over the fight song as the doors to the museum flew open, allowing a swarm of Splicers to surge inside, most of them thuggish, brandishing pipes, wrenches, and other objects as they came running in. Jack was ready, putting away the launcher and raising his tommy gun, releasing a steady stream of bullets at the Splicers while strafing away from the barricade. One of the splicers got too close but was quickly hit with an Incinerate charge, Jack making relatively short work against the splicers. Suddenly he started hearing gunshots as one Leadhead fired at him with a revolver while two Thuggish Splicers charged towards him. He quickly incinerated the Leadhead before turning the tommy gun on the other two, downing one but running out of ammo in the cartridge before he could finish off the other. He quickly ducked a swing from the Splicer's pipe, dropping his tommy gun while pulling out his shotgun and firing a single shot into the Splicer's head, killing it instantly. He then quickly picked up his tommy gun, reloading it as the fight song continued.

"_Another touchdown for Atlas's Losers! What is happening folks?! The champs are getting whipped! Let's talk to Danny Wilkins for a play-by-play! Well folks, looks like this chump quarterback for Atlas's team is just getting lucky but his luck won't last long!" _Wilkins declared as the fight tune faded out. Jack's radio then crackled to life again.

"_You alright kid?!" _Sinclair asked as Jack started checking his suit for damage but fortunately none existed.

"I'm fine. I know how to deal with Splicers." Jack replied as he pressed on towards the exit, stopping near the animatronic of Ryan. He quietly sighed to himself. A couple minutes later he emerged from the museum into the main lobby, quietly tucking a polaroid of him and the animatronic Ryan into a watertight pocket. He rounded a corner where an Ammo Bandito and Circus of Values sat. However as he approached, he heard a ticking sound coming from inside the item chute of the ammo vendor. He quickly leapt clear just as the Ammo Bandito exploded, ripping apart the Circus of Values machine with it. Jack turned towards the burning debris and scowled as the fight song started playing over the speakers.

"_TOUCHDOWN APACHES!" _Wilkins declared, making a breathy cheering sound, imitating a cheering crowd. Jack growled as he turned around, heading straight into the Journey to the Surface attraction only to find that the ground floor was flooded and a loose electrical cable had electrified the water. He turned back around and started heading back out into the main lobby. He looked around and noticed all the emergency access doors leading into the ride had been sealed off or blocked. He then started heading towards the gift shop where he heard a pair of splicers inside.

"Hurry it up! Wilkins wants this thing tickin' before that bunko wanders in here!"one of the Splicers yelled. Jack immediately readied his machine gun and burst in through the door, letting out a Big Daddy roar as he charged in. Lingering near an Ammo Bandito were three splicers, a Thuggish and two Leadheads with tommy guns. The Thuggish Splicer was tinkering with something in the Ammo Bandito but was quickly gunned down by Jack. The two Leadheads turned their weapons towards Jack, one of them prepping a grenade but Jack ignited and detonated it prematurely with an Incinerate, killing one of the Leadheads. He was ducking behind a metal railing as the third Splicer fired at him. He then heard yelling coming from in the direction of the bathrooms, two more Splicers, both Thuggish, rushing out from inside. Jack quickly pulled out his shotgun, waiting until the Thugs were within range before popping up and blasting the head off of one before using telekinesis to pick up and throw the body of the dead Thug into the other. He quickly rolled to another cover spot, putting away the shotgun and grabbing his trusty wrench before hurling it at the Leadhead, nailing it between the eyes but it wasn't enough to kill him but it was enough to disorient him, giving Jack the opportunity to open fire with his tommy gun, mowing down the Leadhead and then turning his weapon on the Thug that he had knocked to the ground a moment earlier. Jack took a moment to survey the area for any more Splicers before putting away his machine gun.

He quickly moved to kneel in front of the Ammo Bandito, reaching into the item chute and pulling out a crudely built time-bomb. A quick inspection revealed that all that remained to set it was to connect two wires and the bomb would be ready. He quietly put the bomb into a satchel before using his auto-hack tool to hack the ammo vendor and then purchase a few frag grenades for the launcher. As he started to head for the door, he heard the fight song start up again.

"_Danny this isn't good! Atlas's Losers are in the lead! The Apaches are gonna need a miracle to win this game! I couldn't agree more, Danny! Looks like the cheerleaders are getting a bit too excited! They're storming the field even as we speak!" _Danny announced as Jack heard the familiar clattering sounds made by Spider Splicers as they crawled on the ceiling. He knew exactly what to do and looked at his launcher.

"Time to see if this works." He mumbled as he raised the launcher and suddenly burst out into the Park Lobby, aiming at the glass roof where at least six Spider Splicer Baby Janes were clamoring around. He immediately fired a frag grenade into the ceiling, the grenade creating a large crack in the glass but not shattering it. It did however knock a few of the Splicers off the roof, two of them dead, the other on fire and screaming. Jack quickly switched to his pistol, firing at the Splicers on the ceiling. The Splicers were clamoring towards him when he noticed water was starting to spray from the crack in the ceiling. Jack quickly lowered his gun and ran for the exit, holstering his pistol and switching to his Winter Blast plasmid and wrench, passing through the exit just as he heard a loud crash and the roar of rushing water behind him. Ryan Amusements was flooding quickly. He neared the entryway leading back to the Metro station when he started feeling water flowing around his ankles. He dove through the doorway just as a watertight bulkhead started lowering down into place behind him, sealing off the flooding section of Rapture. Jack caught his breath but as he rose to his feet, he started hearing a loud voice yelling from somewhere in the large room.

"Well Danny we're in the fourth quarter and Atlas's Losers are still in the lead! I guess it's time for the Apache's star player, Danny Wilkins to save the game for the Apaches!" Danny could be heard yelling before suddenly the neon signage over the medical clinic exploded, revealing a massive wall of muscular and mottled flesh wearing the tattered remains of a blue and white football uniform. It was Danny Wilkins but he was now a Brute Splicer. He grabbed one of the clinic's large letters and threw it at Jack who leapt to the side, firing with anti-personnel rounds in his machine gun, causing Danny to roar in anger, leaping down and charging right at Jack who quickly zapped him with Electro Bolt, stopping him in his tracks before he could reach him. Jack quickly pulled out his shotgun but was on the receiving end of a vicious swing by Danny, launching him away and onto the ground. Jack quickly snapped his fingers, incinerating Danny but it had little effect. Danny's skin was just too heavily reinforced for bullets, even anti-personnel rounds. Danny came charging at him, his jersey now on fire. Jack quickly hit him with a Winter Blast, freezing Danny in place long enough for Jack to inject himself with more EVE and rush to plant the bomb, quickly setting it at the debris pile over the entrance to the metro. He set the bomb just as Danny thawed out, turning towards Jack with an angry roar, picking up large chunk of debris from the ground and throwing it at him but Jack ducked before firing a grenade from his launcher at him, Danny instinctively swatting the bomb out of midair only for it to explode on contact, causing Danny to scream in pain and anger, staggering backwards towards the debris pile while clutching his right arm which was now blackened by the explosion and at least three of his fingers were missing or bleeding.

"That's cheating! Coach will throw you out of the game for that!" Danny yelled but Jack quickly dove into the medical clinic, just seconds before the bomb over the metro entrance exploded, clearing the debris and ripping into Danny from behind. Danny's back was now bloody as he staggered forward, stumbling around, screaming…

"MOMMA!" he screamed as Jack calmly emerged from the clinic, glancing at Danny as he fell onto his stomach, writhing in agony. He calmly stepped towards Danny, loading his pistol with armor piercing rounds. Without a word, he knelt down over the weeping Danny and fired a single round into his brain, killing the deranged Splicer for good. He then holstered the weapon, walking towards the Metro as Sinclair came back on over the radio.

"_Holy Moses son! You really __do__ know how to deal with Splicers." _Sinclair said as Jack stepped through into a waiting area for the Metro, a bathysphere waiting ready for him.

"Danny Wilkins died years ago when he started Splicing. I just finished off his ghost." Jack said as he glanced back at the entrance.

"_You make a good point. By the way, I never did catch your name." _Sinclair said as Jack stepped into the Bathysphere.

"Just call me Jack." Jack replied, pulling the lever and leaving Ryan Amusements behind to drown.

* * *

**End Chapter 3**

**Please R&amp;R…**

Jack's line about "Not being just a pair of hands" is a nod to the fact that, if you were ever to look at Jack's in-game model for Bioshock, you'll see that he's just a pair of arms that raise and lower as necessary. The first time Jack ever gets a full body rendering in the game is in Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2.


	4. Lost Little Lamb

"_Last week I was called in to do a wellness check on one of my neighbors. Found out he'd been dead for three days. Autopsy suggests: heart attack. But the strange thing was, the rate of decomposition seemed to be unnaturally slower than normal. As a mortician I see bodies all the time and ever since coming to Rapture, they always seem to be suspiciously well preserved. I took a few samples from my neighbor and a few other patients to one of the genetics geniuses over at Fontaine Futuristics and today I got the most fascinating news. It seems that, somehow, the bacteria responsible for decomposition reacts much slower here than on the surface. This kraut geneticist, Tenenbaum, thinks it has something to do with the environment and something she calls ADAM. Not sure what that is, but what I __do__ know is that if that's the case, then bodies are gonna take a long time to decompose around here. Eternal Flame crematorium might want to consider preparing themselves for a surge in business."_

Dr. E. Finnegan_  
_"Rate of Decay."

* * *

"Elizabeth?" Eleanor asked curiously.

"_Yes. Look I-…I know you have absolutely no reason to trust me but I could really use your help." _Elizabeth replied.

"I'll do what I can. Where are you?" Eleanor asked.

"_I don't know. Some kind of control room I guess. Tell me where you are and maybe we can help each other." _Elizabeth replied.

"I'm in a place called Rhea Suites. It looks like an apartment building." Eleanor explained.

"_Rhea Suites…okay I think I can help. From what I see, the area you're in is locked down. You'll need to deal with this O'Malley person first." _Elizabeth replied.

"I'll do that but do you know where she is?" Eleanor asked.

"_I do, yes. She's hiding in a sort of bunker beneath the street to your right. It's some kind of maintenance control room of sorts." _Elizabeth instructed, Eleanor turning towards one of the streets leading into the apartment building, a sign showing the way towards the Atlantic Express station. She started to head towards the street which was designed similarly to the ones leading to and from the apartments in Apollo Square and Olympus Heights, a single street through the center and two tramways on either side. The trams themselves hadn't been moved in well over ten years. Eleanor crept towards the other side of the street, glancing out the windows. She could simply teleport outside but she caught a glimpse of a Big Sister, perched atop a fallen statue in the ocean. The Big Sister was facing away from her and didn't seem to notice but the very sight of the Big Sister was enough to persuade Eleanor against teleporting outside. She needed to stay inside the city anyway. She then stumbled across a strange spot in the middle of the street: a sheet of thick metal plating with railing around it on all but one side, the metal sheet lying flat on the ground. The metal was clearly a door and there was a device reminiscent to a parking meter in shape with a strange vertical slot built into the post to the right of the door.

"Is this it?" Eleanor asked.

"_That's it but it looks like it's locked. From what I can tell, those maintenance tunnels can only be opened with a special key of some sort." _Elizabeth replied.

"And where do I find that?" Eleanor asked.

"_I can't help you there. I'm sorry. I'll be here if you need any more information." _Elizabeth replied. Eleanor started to ponder what Delta would've done in this situation. Looking through the memories she had extracted from him prior to his death she realized what he would've done. He would've looked around and tried to find the key he needed. She started to press on towards the other end of the street, to an area labeled Jupiter Circle.

Jupiter Circle was a large round commons area with a fountain in the center that was partially flooding the surrounding area. The fountain had a statue of Zeus in the center holding twin lightning bolts up in the air with a moldy banner hanging over it which read "All good things of this earth flow into the city." On the wall behind the statue was a bulkhead door that had been jammed open and a sign over it reading "Ryan Tower." There were two other passageways aside from the jammed bulkhead and the passage to Rhea Suites. One passage led to an area known as Kronos Fields with a sign also listing an area known as Athena's Glory being accessible via the same passage. The passage to Kronos Fields however was blocked by debris and water was leaking through the cracks. The other passage led to the Atlantic Express and Rapture Metro stations but an electronic scrolling sign over the passage read "Security Lockdown in Effect."

Eleanor started to head towards the bulkhead but as she did, she heard the groan of a Big Daddy nearby. He turned and saw a Rosie lumbering into the area behind her, leading a Sister-bot into the area. The Sister-bot quietly started to harvest the ADAM from a nearby corpse, Eleanor deciding to quickly move away so as to avoid disturbing them. However the moment the Sister-bot started harvesting, Eleanor heard the yelling of Splicers coming towards them. She quickly extended her needles and stood ready. Soon a number of splicers came pouring out of the passageways towards them, hungry for the Sister-bot's ADAM. Eleanor let out a Big Sister screech as a thwarting gesture, which scared a few off but the rest kept coming, their desperation for ADAM surpassed their fear of a Big Sister. The Rosie was already firing its rivet gun at the Splicers and lobbing proximity mines. Eleanor quickly dove in to the Splicers and started cutting them down with her needles. She saw a thuggish splicer heading towards the sister-bot but she quickly intercepted by hurling a powerful Electro Bolt at him, the sheer power of her Electro Bolt surpassing even the level three version and electrocuting the Splicer to death. She then heard gunshots, and turned to see the Rosie under fire from two Leadheads with SMGs. Eleanor quickly teleported over their heads and dropped down onto them, impaling them with her needles. She then saw the Rosie launched through the air as a Brute Splicer ran past it. Eleanor quickly let out another screech, catching the Brute's attention. It then roared angrily and charged towards her but she nimbly vaulted over it, turning and grabbing hold of it by the collar of his jacket, driving her needles into his shoulders and causing it to howl with pain.

"Get off! Get off!" the Brute roared but Eleanor used her freed hands to blast his head with a steady stream of electricity from both hands, her needles helping her hold on, Eleanor taking some damage from the powerful voltage but her Sister physiology healing her quickly. Finally the Splicer dropped to the ground, dead, the rest of the splicers having been killed or driven away by her and the Rosie. She retracted her needles and turned to see the Rosie slowly lumbering towards her, letting out one of its moans. She looked towards the Big Daddy, the lights in its ports turning green as it approached her. She then realized what was happening. The Big Daddy was sensing her Little Sister pheromones and was responding to it. The Rosie stood near her, the Sister-bot quietly approaching, it's harvesting having finished. Eleanor felt pity for the beast but quickly teleported to the other side of the circle, turning towards where the Rosie and the Sister-bot stood. The Rosie stood there confused for a moment but then turned to the Sister-bot and motioned for it to follow, the lights in its helmet turning back to yellow, reacting to the Sister-bot's pheromones again. She watched the two depart towards Rhea Suites again, her radio crackling to life.

"_Eleanor! Are you alright?!" _Elizabeth asked worriedly as Eleanor looked around for more Splicers.

"I'm fine but I could use some help. What sort of key am I looking for?" Eleanor asked.

"_It's some kind of key that only works for certain people. Has something to do with their genetic code." _Elizabeth replied.

"In what way? Genetic locks perhaps?" Eleanor asked.

"_That sounds right. I know that the higher up the chain the maintenance worker was, the more doors that they could open." _Elizabeth replied.

"Higher up the chain…do you think Ryan would've had a key?" Eleanor asked, looking at the sign for Ryan Tower.

"_Andrew Ryan? I don't see why not. Rapture was his idea to begin with so I imagine he would have a key." _Elizabeth replied.

"I think I might have a lead on one then." Eleanor said. Eleanor stepped quietly into Ryan Tower, the private residence of Andrew Ryan. Ryan's apartment wasn't on the ground floor but was accessible via an elevator on the opposite end of the room. In the center of the room was a bust of Ryan and the area looked to be in very good condition compared to the rest of Rapture. No leaks, no fallen or damaged supports or facades. The only damage appeared to be a large red carpet that divided the room in two from one end to the other from left to right. It had a number of strange holes in it, the edges looking partially burnt. There was, however, a large number of corpses both old and relatively new strewn about on the carpet but aside from gunshot wounds there was nothing to implicate how they were killed. The only thing that indicated a cause of death was the position of the wounds. Their legs were all shot up and bloody. Eleanor began searching the bodies for any sort of evidence and found an audio diary tape in the back pocket of one of the older corpses. The tape was labeled "Ryan's Wall" and was made by a person named "L. Tyson." She quietly put the tape in her radios built in playback device and hit play.

"_Atlas sent me on this scouting mission with a couple of the guys, to scope out Ryan Tower. We'd heard rumors about some kind of defense against intruders, something the guys call Ryan's wall. We were supposed to find a way around it. Well, we walk in towards the center and all of a sudden we hear gunshots and Mikey cryin' out! He falls over and someone shoots him in the back from overhead! Blood spraying everywhere like a geyser in his back! Phil started scramblin', lookin' for the shooter but then his legs got shot out and he fell, getting shot up from overhead too! That's what Ryan's wall is! He's got snipers hidden around in here! I gotta tell Atlas! He's gonna-(gunshots)-AGHHHH! (More gunshots)"_

The diary finished playing and Eleanor was knelt at the edge of the carpet, examining it and the ceiling curiously. There was a dark space around the edges of the ceiling, space enough for someone to hide. Some automated turrets perhaps? But Eleanor wasn't convinced. She then thought of something. Something about the description made in the diary.

"Blood doesn't spray like a geyser when shot in the back…but it does if that's where the bullet comes out." Eleanor pondered as she used telekinesis to pull one of the fresher bodies off the carpet, pulling it towards her and dropping it on the floor. She rolled the body over and looked at its chest and back. Sure enough, there were bullet wounds that went straight through from the front to the back. Ryan's Wall wasn't snipers! She threw the body back onto the carpet and sure enough, there was a sudden chorus of gunfire as the body convulsed, blood shooting straight up as bullets ripped straight up through its body.

"It's the floor! There are hidden guns under the floor!" Eleanor exclaimed before raising her hands which caught ablaze with Incinerate. She then set fire to the carpet which took a moment to burn away but when it did, it revealed that the floor beneath the carpet was a large metal grating, the grating divided into pressure sensitive squares with gun barrels pointed straight up in the gaps between the gratings.

"Ryan's Wall…absolutely deadly." Eleanor marveled. She teleported across to the other side of the room, bypassing the wall. She then stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to activate it, the elevator carrying her up towards Ryan's penthouse suite. As she did, her radio crackled to life.

"_Well-well, little Miss Missy figured out Ryan's Wall! Thanks for the tip! But all of Ryan's crap's been legally seized by Alex the Great! You'll not live to get any of it Parasite!" _Big Kate O'Malley yelled as the elevator reached the top floor. She suddenly heard the security alarms going off, a security camera locking onto her immediately with its white spotlight, security drones flying in, firing at Eleanor. Ellie quickly used her powerful Telekinesis and ripped the drones and camera towards her, throwing them away but it didn't stop the drones as more appeared. Eleanor quickly ran for the door to Ryan's penthouse but it slammed shut in front of her. She quickly teleported inside however, evading that wave of drones but two more flew into the apartment, flying towards her and firing away. She quickly ran from the drones, evading them as best she could. She then spotted something, a Bot-Shutdown panel. She turned and ran, racing towards the panel as the drones pursued her. She turned and zapped the drones, knocking them out of the air, two more swooping in from overhead. She quickly turned back and leapt at the switch, pulling it and deactivating the security.

Things were now silent in Ryan's darkened apartment but not for long. As she climbed to her feet, catching her breath, the lights started to automatically flicker on, a phonograph nearby starting to play on its own, starting to play Rise Rapture Rise. Eleanor looked around and realized she was in Ryan's study. There was a framed poster on the wall advertising Jasmine Jolene and a similarly framed advertisement for McClintock Jewelers, presumably an advertisement for the late Diane McClintock's business. Eleanor started to leave the study, letting the phonograph play. The apartment was beautiful even for Rapture. Brass fixtures that, despite ten years of neglect, still shined as if they were only recently polished. It was like stepping back in time to when Rapture was still a bustling and functioning utopia of capitalism. As she explored the apartment, she found an audio diary sitting on a table by the front doors. It was labeled "Got your mail" and was recorded by Diane McClintock. Eleanor quietly plugged in the tape, hitting play.

"_Andrew, dear, I hope you don't mind but I picked up your mail on my way in. I left it on the desk in your private office. Don't worry, I didn't peek. By the way, I was planning on attending the Masquerade Party at the Kashmir for New Year's Eve. Hope you can make it. You've stood me up twice already. Anyway, I need to go get a new dress for the party. Sorry I missed you." _Diane had recorded, Eleanor listening as she explored the apartment. She soon entered into Ryan's office where his desk sat, facing away from a large window overlooking the city. The desk itself was different than the ones common to Rapture. This one was made of a dark metal with brass lining and brass patterns at the corners. It was also permanently welded to the floor. There were curtains hanging on either side of the window to close out the bright lights from outside. Eleanor looked on Ryan's desk and saw the mail Diane had mentioned sitting there, all unopened but they did appear to have been sorted through. She moved to start opening the desk drawers but they were locked somehow and there wasn't a keyhole on any of them but there were strange round plates where the locks would be. She backed up from the desk to see if there was some trick if she stood further back but there wasn't. She then happened a glance outside the windows and saw something that made her pause. Ryan's window overlooked a large statue of a figure holding up a large sphere made of rings. Beneath the statue was a strange looking platform. Suddenly memories of Subject Delta's passage through Ryan Amusements flashed into her mind, a memory of one of the historical marquees showing a large submarine with the same statue on it: the Sinker. She shrugged and turned back to the desk, continuing to examine it. Eventually Eleanor gave up on the desk when she noticed another audio diary sitting on a liquor cabinet. The diary was labeled "New Desk" and made by Bill McDonagh. Eleanor quietly plugged in this tape and started listening to it while looking at the desk.

"_As requested, Mr. Ryan, your new desk is installed. The boys in the workshops have outdone themselves this time. They've taken the same technology that makes those genetic keys and integrated them into the drawer handles. It's keyed to your genetic code and won't unlock for anyone but you. Now for whatever reason, you should get locked out of your own desk, there is a work around for unlocking it. The desk is tied into your apartment's own power grid. Cut the power and the locks disengage and since you're the only one who knows where the switch is, you don't have to worry about someone breakin' in now do ya?" _McDonagh said as Eleanor started looking for the power controls. Her first stop was a room adjoining Ryan's office, a room with a drawing board, chalkboard, blueprints of various kinds, half-finished inventions, but one design on the drawing table stood out to Eleanor. It was a schematic for a revised circuit panel to replace an old one. The dimensions made it small enough to fit behind what looked to be a framed painting. Ryan had been designing a new circuit panel to help manage the power to his apartment more easily but hadn't gotten to building it yet. However the drawing of the frame stood out to her, recognizing the frame. She quickly turned and raced back down to Ryan's study, looking at the posters for Jolene and McClintock. She checked behind Jolene's poster but found nothing but wall. She looked behind McClintock's poster and bingo! There was the apartment's circuit panel. Eleanor looked through the circuits but none of them were labeled and any one of them could go to Ryan's desk. She sighed and threw the main circuit breaker, cutting the power to the apartment immediately, the entire apartment going dark save for red emergency lights. She heard an alarm sound as well and an automated female voice started speaking.

"_Warning! Power failure in Ryan Tower! All security systems have been disabled!" _the voice reported. Eleanor quickly ran back up the stairs, hurrying to Ryan's desk and pulling drawers open, sifting through papers until she opened the lap drawer and found something that caught her eye: one of the gold colored genetic keys. She quickly pulled the key from the drawer, reading a small inscription near the handle reading: "Maintenance." She quickly pocketed the key, the sound of splicers yelling as they approached the apartment doors. Eleanor angrily extended her needles and prepared her plasmids. The doors suddenly flew open, at least six splicers rushing in, two Thuggish and four Leadheads. Eleanor made short work of the Thugs, impaling them both on her needles and tossing them to the sides before quickly bounding around the room with great agility, landing in the center of them and releasing a Sonic Boom in both directions, blowing away the remaining four Splicers before running out the doors, spotting how the splicers had gotten in: an emergency stairwell. She quickly leapt over the railing, making her way down towards the ground, passing more splicers as she went but narrowly dodging their attacks and their bullets until she reached the bottom floor and saw a swarm of Splicers rushing her from across Ryan's Wall. She stood ready for a fight when she heard her radio crackle to life.

"_Eleanor! Watch out! I think I was able to restore power to your area!"_ Elizabeth yelled as the power suddenly came back on. The yelling of the Splicers was suddenly drowned out by a deafening series of gunshots as Ryan's Wall reactivated, the guns in the floor activating whenever a Splicer tripped the pressure grates. Within seconds the attacking Splicers had been slaughtered. Eleanor then heard the whistling of security bots as they flew overhead, heading up the stairs. She could also hear gunfire in the stairwell behind her as the bots and splicers fired at one another.

"_Eleanor! You alright?" _Elizabeth asked as Eleanor teleported across Ryan's Wall, rushing through the bulkhead, running out into Jupiter Circle.

"I'm fine, thanks!" Eleanor replied as the P.A. clicked on.

"_Alright you little Parasite! You want to play rough?! I can play rough! Looks like you've got an old friend of yours coming to deal with you!" _O'Malley yelled angrily. Eleanor suddenly heard a Big Sister screech echoing throughout the area, causing her to slide to a halt. Eleanor's eyes widened, looking around for the source when she heard another screech only louder. Big Sister was getting closer. She quickly hurried into the street, running towards the maintenance tunnel where O'Malley was hiding but as she approached, she heard a third screech and something slammed into her from the side, carrying her to one side of the street and slamming her head first into one of the steel frames supporting the glass dome over the streets. Eleanor looked and saw the Big Sister had her pressed against the wall. Eleanor quickly hit the sister with an Electro Bolt, the Sister convulsing slightly before leaping back, glaring at Eleanor, the light in her helmet a clear shade of blood red. However it suddenly went yellow, the Big Sister reacting in confusion as it stared at Eleanor for a moment before the light went red again.

"I don't want to hurt you! We're the same! We're sisters! So stand in my way and I'll have no choice but to fight you!" Eleanor yelled, earning a metallic huff from the Sister. She wasn't sure if there was any meaning behind the Sister's reaction or not but either way the Sister attacked, hurling fireballs at Eleanor who quickly leapt up into the air, grabbing hold of one of the overhead girders and then launching herself off of it towards the Sister, slamming into her, the two tumbling across the ground into a pool of water. Eleanor quickly electrified the pool, shocking both her and the Sister but the sister unleashed a Sonic Boom on Eleanor, launching her off, Eleanor landing hard in the center of the street but before she could get up, the Sister had pounced on her, pinning Eleanor down, staring at her curiously, a feral growl coming from the Sister. Eleanor suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach, the Big Sister's needle piercing her stomach, feeling some of her ADAM being drained. Suddenly the Sister paused, the drain stopping, crawling back slightly, removing the needle, acting as if confused and scared. Eleanor sat up, clutching her side, watching the Sister as it continued backing away. The two stared at each other for a moment before the Sister turned and fled, making a strange sound Eleanor couldn't identify.

She sat in the street for a moment, confused, before checking her suit. There was small puncture to her diving suit but she wouldn't need to worry about it. Still having her Little Sister physiology meant that she could survive the crushing depths of the ocean, even without the suit. Her wound had also healed, also thanks to her physiology. She climbed to her feet, turning towards the maintenance hatch and inserting the key. Instantly the hatch opened, revealing a set of downward stairs. Eleanor descended the stairs and saw a glass wall with a door separating a control room from the rest of the maintenance hatch, where a control system was set up, a series of television monitors linked to security cameras, a radio broadcast setup, and a heavyset woman with short curly brown hair in a dusty red smock, leveling a shotgun at the window.

"Come any closer you little prick and I'll blow your head off!" O'Malley threatened. Eleanor retracted her needles, having no desire to fight O'Malley.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to get out of here." Eleanor said but Big Kate didn't listen.

"I said stay back!" O'Malley yelled, firing the shotgun but Eleanor ducked to one side as the glass wall shattered. Eleanor quickly snapped back around and hit O'Malley with a Winter Blast, freezing her solid in a block of ice. Eleanor calmly stepped into the room, carefully breaking the shotgun in O'Malley's hand by simply crushing it, causing the gun to shatter.

"_Eleanor? Are you in O'Malley's den?" _Elizabeth asked.

"Yes. I've frozen O'Malley in place. My plasmids are more powerful than most others so I don't think she'll be going anywhere." Eleanor replied.

"_Good. Say, can you do me a favor? I thought I heard someone singing in there at times. There should be a phonograph or a radio in there. Find it for me, would you?" _Elizabeth asked as Eleanor looked around. She then saw, on the floor behind one of the desks, was a phonograph but beneath it was a record case. Eleanor slipped the case out from under the phonograph, examining it curiously. It was labeled "Presenting Elizabeth: Cohen's New Songbird, 'You Belong to Me'" and had a portrait of a raven haired femme fatale and Sander Cohen with a microphone. A fragment of the record itself was hanging out of the case, the record having broken at some point.

"I've seen this record before. One of my friends owns a copy that was smuggled out of Rapture two years ago. Is this you?" Eleanor asked.

"_Yeah. That's me. I couldn't see the label from the camera angle so I wasn't sure. It looks like they did something to the phonograph though. Can you look into it?" _Elizabeth asked.

Eleanor picking up the phonograph and noticing what looked like a cannibalized audio diary with a tape inside of it built into the side of the phonograph. She quietly removed the tape and plugged it into the radio, hitting play. She then heard music start playing. It was a recording of the same song. Eleanor listened as the woman, Elizabeth, sang her song.

"It's you. A recording of you singing." Eleanor said, glancing at O'Malley who was still frozen in place.

"_Really? I…I don't remember…(sigh). Thank you Eleanor." _Elizabeth replied as Eleanor looked around, the music still playing, turning around and suddenly coming face to face with the Big Sister from earlier, crouched on the ground, quietly watching her, the lights in her helmet a shade of yellow. The sister seemed to be making a strange sound, a low tone that would change erratically. Eleanor stopped the music, listening to the strange tones from the Sister who suddenly stopped and fled, leaving a confused Eleanor behind. Eleanor was still stunned by the sister and her actions that she didn't notice the Leadhead Splicer entering the area from one of the maintenance tunnels. The splicer didn't notice her either but suddenly spotted her, letting out a startled yelp and firing at her with a pistol. Eleanor quickly ducked but the bullet bounced and struck the frozen O'Malley, shattering her into a thousand pieces. Eleanor retaliated by incinerating the Splicer, killing him instantly. Eleanor looked at the remains of O'Malley and sighed heavily, shaking her head just as a radio set up near where O'Malley had been hummed to life.

"_You vagabonds are starting to annoy me. If you've thrown your lot in with Atlas, put a bullet through your head right now because that's what's waiting for you if you insist on defying me." _The unknown man said before the radio switched off. Eleanor scowled at the radio.

"Who is he?" Eleanor asked.

"_I'm not sure. I know he's connected to someone named Alexander but there's more to it, I'm sure." _Elizabeth replied.

"Alright, Elizabeth, do you know how I can get out?" Eleanor asked.

"_I think so, yes. I think if I'm reading this right, that you can use that key and override the lockdown at the Atlantic Express Station near where you are. I've been talking to someone named Atlas. He's trying to help me out and he thinks he knows where I am. He says to take the train. It won't take you straight to me but it will put you in touch with someone that might help. He says you may know this person and said I should put this song on as a hint. I'll see you soon." _Elizabeth said before Eleanor heard music starting to play over the radio, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" sung by Bessie Smith specifically. Eleanor immediately realized who Elizabeth was talking about and smiled inside of her helmet, hurrying out of the tunnel, snatching the key from the slot, and rushing to the train station. As she entered the Atlantic Express Station in Jupiter Circle, she stopped to look at the board showing the train routes. She saw that the train from Jupiter Circle had been rerouted to Pauper's Drop while the station light at Ryan Amusements had gone out. She quickly ran to the control booth, using the key to override the lockdown before quickly boarding the train and pulling the lever, the train groaning to life before it began to move, passing through the opening door and going into the water, leaving Jupiter Circle behind.

* * *

**End Chapter 4.**


	5. Arcadia

"_I understand that the realm of science ain't exactly what you might call a 'risk-free environment.' But here in Rapture, I've noticed that there's very little grievin' for some of the minds that become victims of their own success. The folks just have a moment of silence and then start fightin' over who gets the newly vacated office space. Crazy Doc Suchong learned not to slap those little starry eyed girls around when those Big Daddies are near and before there could even be a memorial service over at Twilight Fields, ol' Gilbert Alexander's musclin' in to become the new lead for those Protectors, even asked for a few of my (ahem) guests in Persephone for the program, twenty four at the minimum. Well…as long as he's payin'."_

Augustus Sinclair  
"Mourning Period."

* * *

Mr. Porter had just opened the door to Arcadia, and his first sight of Rapture's Greenhouse stunned him. The entire area was overgrown with plants. Vines and small trees were growing everywhere. There was still a traversable path but the entrance to Arcadia from the Farmer's Market was hardly recognizable. Some of the plants seemed to glow with a sort of red bioluminescence, bathing the area in a soft red glow. To Porter, it was like he had completely left Rapture, the only clear signs that he was still in the underwater city was the faintly visible glass skylight overhead and the odd stream of water falling from the ceiling, pooling in areas on the ground. He also noticed that the plants seemed to be withdrawn from the pools of saltwater.

"What happened here?" Porter asked, confused. Porter had been to Arcadia before, getting breaths of fresh air occasionally outside of Minerva's Den as well as to acquire some fresh bottles of Arcadia Merlot and he found the changes to Arcadia very surprising.

"_Now __that__, my friend, is what Atlas sent me here for. See, he had me doing a little, ya know, detective work. From what I gather, about ten years ago, Ryan tried to suffocate the whole city by killin' off the forest down here with some kind of poison. But somehow the trees came back to life. I've found references to some kind of botanical mumbo-jumbo that's supposed to be able to bring dead plants back to life. Something called the Lazarus-Vector. Apparently that stuff made the plant life grow a skin of iron. Nothin' fazes this stuff except maybe salt-water. But as long as the plants keep makin' breathable air, I ain't about to complain about the jungle growin' down 'ere." _Stanley Poole explained as Porter started to make his way out of the area.

"I see. Thank you for the information Mr. Poole. Now, Atlas said I could use the Bathysphere in Port Neptune to reunite with my friends. We're on an important mission." Porter said, passing the ticket-booths and turnstiles leading into Arcadia.

"_Eh now that might be a problem, pal. See, Alex the Great's goons've got this area almost completely overrun and don't even get me started on the Saturnine. Any attempt at getting out is almost suicide. Hope you've got a plan."_ Poole said as Porter raised his drill, revving it a couple of times.

"I might have a few. Where can I meet you?" Porter asked.

"_Yeah about that. I'm nice and secure where I am at the moment. I unlock the doors and I'm an obituary. Sorry pal. Atlas may give ya the go ahead but I've already tempted fate once and I ain't tempin' it again." _Poole replied.

"Then let me give you a hypothetical scenario. What if the splicers were removed from the equation?" Porter asked as he entered the Tree Farm.

"_What if the Splicers were-…oh I get ya. Yeah sure if you wanna go turn yourself into a ghost, go ahead. You'd have to be a Big Daddy to get through that mess and even then I'd doubt your chances. But if you really wanna drive 'em nuts, then put the bump on Johnson." _Poole explained as Porter headed for the doorway leading into Arcadia Glens nearest the Rolling Hills. The doors leading to the Glens near the Tea Garden was broken, both doors jammed at awkward angles.

"Johnson?" Porter asked.

"_Yeah. Barbara Johnson. Dumb housewife that went and got herself spliced up during the war between Atlas and Ryan. After the war, she joined up with the Saturnine and now she's the ringleader of their little circus here. Runs things from Langford's Office in the Rolling Hills. Take her down, the Splicers lose their heads…figuratively speaking of course." _Poole explained as Porter prepared his Ion Laser.

"Alright, I'll go there. I'll contact you when the job is done." Porter said. He stepped out into the Glens, deciding to play it safe by acting like a Big Daddy, lumbering through. The Glens were, like the rest of Arcadia, overgrown. The passageway to the storage area of Arcadia was blocked off by trees and vines, the north doors to the Waterfall Grotto were smashed through by a large tree that had grown up through the entrance. The Gatherer's Garden that had been there ten years ago during Jack's journey through Rapture had been ripped up and was hanging upside down near the roof in another tree. There was still a safe path between the trees though so access to the Tea Garden was still an option..

He didn't see any Splicers but he did hear them, their insane chattering acting as a clear indication of their presence. He stepped out into the Rolling Hills which, again, were overgrown but the Splicers had partially adapted, building small crude dwellings amongst the trees. The trees themselves and the walls were covered in Saturnine markings, their yellow florescent paint covering nearly every free space of the Rolling Hills. Porter took a breath and started to walk towards Langford's Office, following what little path existed. The space began getting tighter with all the overgrowth. He pulled out his shotgun, keeping it ready in case he needed to use it in the tight quarters. As he approached the passage to the second half of the Rolling Hills, he found that the overgrowth had blocked the entrance. He quietly lowered the shotgun and raised his drill, revving it up and stepping back. He then flew forward, smashing at the growth with his drill at full speed. The drill did some damage but some of the vines got tangled up in it. He backed away to pull the tangled vines loose when a thought occurred to him.

"Spaghetti. It's like eating spaghetti." He mused before revving his drill up to full speed and driving it into the overgrowth, the vines and branches being pulled into the drill head, the branches groaning and eventually snapping. However he then saw the familiar red clouds of Houdini Splicers teleporting away on the other side of the brush and he quickly stopped as the Splicers started shouting and teleporting near him. Porter quickly spun with his Drill revved to max speed, smashing one Splicer in the face as he spun. He then fired a burst of flames from Incinerate at them, the fire bomb igniting a couple of them before he produced a strange convulsing black polyp in his hand, tossing it into the center, creating a Gravity Well that sucked the Splicers in towards the center, splashing them with acid in the process. Porter took the opportunity to quickly return to tearing through the branches with his drill, the path almost clear enough for him to pass through. He then saw the Splicer he had hit with the drill starting to get back up. Porter quickly pulled his shotgun out with his free hand and blasted it point blank in the head. Finally the path was clear and he stopped spinning the drill, quickly starting to tear broken branches, tangled vines, and leaf fragments from the drill head when he had to duck two fireballs. He turned and saw a Saturnine Cultist throwing fireballs at him. He quickly stepped to the side, putting away the drill and turning to his Rivet Gun, popping back out and firing at the Splicer but he had vanished. He quickly prepped Winter Blast and soon heard the familiar sound of the Splicer's teleporting behind him. He spun around and bashed the Splicer in the head with the Rivet Gun before freezing it solid, firing a second shot that shattered the Splicer. Now he heard no Splicers or their yelling, finally a peaceful moment. He took the opportunity to keep picking the drill clean while moving into the rest of the Rolling Hills. As he did, a woman's voice came on over the P.A. system.

"_Who let the dog out?! Who?! Who?! Who-who-who?!" _the woman asked impatiently. Porter was looking around curiously for the source when his radio crackled to life again.

"_Hey buddy! You still alright? I heard Johnson screamin' over the P.A." _Poole asked.

"I'm fine, Mr. Poole. I had to stop and deal with a few Splicers first. Nothing I can't handle." Porter replied, although his tone indicated he wasn't pleased with having to do so.

"_Really? Huh. You know I've been thinkin', and it occurred to me. I never got your name." _Poole said.

"You mean Atlas didn't tell you?" Porter asked, mildly surprise by Atlas's lack of information.

"_Atlas doesn't really tell me much. Stuff he tells me is typically on a need to know basis. I usually gotta find out what's what on my own. So who are you anyway?" _Poole asked as Porter finished cleaning his drill, glancing at the back of his right hand which had a misprinted Greek letter "Sigma" on the back. The letter had accidently been mirrored but wasn't worth correcting since his left hand had the correct emblem.

"My name is Charles Milton Porter, Mr. Poole." Porter replied as he headed for the entrance to Julie Langford's office, having to move around several large trees and thick underbrush first.

"_Charles Milton-…whoa-whoa-whoa hold it! Last I heard of you, you got sent up the creek by Ryan for sellin' out to Fontaine! Where've you been all this time?!" _Poole asked.

"That, Mr. Poole, is on a need to know basis." Porter replied with a coy smirk which went unnoticed due to his helmet.

"_Very funny wise guy. Why don't you go do stand up?"_ Poole grumbled as Porter chuckled to himself, still clearing branches and twigs.

"Given the fact that I'm the one risking my life to eliminate this Johnson woman, I believe I've earned a little levity." Porter replied.

"_Uh-huh. Sure." _Poole grumbled as Porter reached the door but found a major problem. The waterproof doors leading to the office was practically invisible beneath a thick layer of growth from the plants.

"Hmm, we may have a problem. It would seem that the plants have grown over the entrance to the office and there's too much for me to pull away on my own." Porter said, pondering his options. The plants were too healthy to simply burn away with Incinerate or his Ion Laser's thermal cells. They were too thick and strong for his drill to handle, and he doubted that ice would have any effect on them either so Winter Blast was out.

"_Wait, if it's blocked, then how'd Johnson get in there?" _Poole asked as Porter glanced up at the windows to Langford's office. He couldn't see anyone inside but that didn't mean it was empty.

"The teleportation plasmid used by the Houdini Splicers causes the molecules of the user to temporarily space themselves out to just enough of a variance that they can pass through solid matter at will. The catch is that they have to be able to see where they're going and that the conditions have to be correct. Teleporting through the ocean doesn't work since their bodies are still effected by things such as pressure and temperature. They try teleporting through the ocean, they might as well have a house dropped on top of them." Porter explained, examining the foliage in his path.

"_Okay, I have no idea what you just said."_ Poole replied, Porter continuing to examine the area over the doors but he soon found something. Over the doorway were several exposed pipes running across over the doorway. Knowing what he did about Rapture's design, he knew that there was sea water being pumped through those pipes. The Pipes were too high up for his drill and too sturdily crafted for a simple explosion to break them so he needed an alternative. He then came up with an alternative solution and turned to leave. He walked away from the door a little before turning back and raising an icy fist and then freezing the pipes solid. He then quickly raised his launcher and fired a grenade into the pipes, the explosion causing them to shatter, water starting to rush from the pipes, landing on the plants. Almost instantly he noticed as the red glow of the plants started pulsing slightly, the plants starting to twitch slightly. As the water flowed, he heard the P.A. system come on.

"_Brothers and Sisters of the Saturnine! There's a bad doggy wetting on my flowers! Someone bring me a rolled up paper and punish the bad little doggy!" _Johnson ordered. Porter immediately turned and raised his machine gun while holding a Gravity Well polyp in his other hand. Soon he saw the familiar red clouds of the Houdini Splicers as they teleported in. He quickly hurled the Gravity Well into the center of the crowd, pulling them into the center and splashing them with acid while he fired into the crowd with his machine gun. Within seconds these Splicers were dead but more were on their way. He then saw something that made him pause in alarm. He saw a splicer, dressed in Saturnine clothes, but its arms were covered in leaves and bark that looked like it had all been absorbed into his skin. The Splicer was wielding a large wooden club that looked like it had been broken off of one of the trees. Porter quickly raised his drill, and charged at the Splicer, knocking it backwards but that's all it did. The Splicer's wounds healed almost instantly. Porter quickly started firing his machine gun again but the bullets just burrowed lightly into the Splicer's skin, the Splicer charging at him again. Porter quickly sidestepped the Splicer and threw him back with his drill again before raising his other hand, a blue glowing polyp in hand this time. The Polyp suddenly convulsed before popping in Porter's hand. They soon heard the whistling of Security Bot flying in. The elite bot immediately opened fire on the Splicer with its machine gun. Porter quickly summoned a second bot while continuing to fire at the Splicer but the bots and his weapons were useless.

Porter quickly turned back towards the doors to Langford's office and saw that the plants over the doors had turned brown and looked very unhealthy. He quickly raised his drill and started smashing at the plants, ripping them away from the door until it started to open on its own, ripping the remaining plants off of it. Porter quickly hurried inside, running into the glass tunnel to Langford's office with his weapons ready but was suddenly tackled from behind, feeling something hard hit him on the back of the head. He was being hit repeatedly by this Leafy Splicer and was helpless before a thought occurred to him. He quickly rolled onto his back, blocking the Splicer's next swing with his drill, and blasting it with a Winter Blast, giving him a brief moment to climb to his feet, revitalizing his Plasmids with an EVE Hypo and then turning his attention to the glass tube they were in. He revved his drill up to full speed and started driving it into the window, the glass starting to crack but so did the ice covering the Splicer. The Splicer thawed first and turned attack Porter when the glass finally shattered, allowing a rush of seawater to flow in. Porter quickly turned and ran for the door to Langford's office, the Splicer howling in pain and agony, the seawater like acid to him. Porter got through into Langford's office just as the emergency bulkhead dropped down, blocking access into the office from the tube and cutting off the Splicer, drowning it.

"_Bad little doggy! You're tracking mud all over my nice clean floor! Mama spank!" _Johnson could be heard over the P.A. Porter knew immediately that she was coming and hurried towards Langford's inner office where the misting controls were. As he approached the bulkhead leading to the inner office, the door suddenly opened, revealing a hideously deformed woman in a torn and tattered house frock with the Saturnine colors on them, and carrying a chemical sprayer.

"Bad doggy!" Johnson screeched before unleashing a stream of electric gel at Porter from the sprayer, electrocuting him inside his suit. She stopped for a moment to come rushing towards him but ran straight into his drill head. He immediately revved it to full speed, causing her some injury but she smacked him with a frying pan, disorienting him enough to stagger back, clutching her stomach. Porter merely revved his drill to full speed again and charged towards her, driving the drill into her head as she screamed. In under a second her head was ripped apart and scattered about the room. Johnson's headless corpse slumped to the ground, Porter standing over her for a moment, shaking the blood from his drill, a sigh of sadness coming from him. He then turned towards the door to the inner office, heading inside. As he entered the office where the misting controls were, his radio crackled to life.

"_Hey, hey Porter! Whatever you did really stirred up a hornets nest just now because the Saturnine are goin' ape out here! Did you bump off Johnson or somethin'?!" _Poole asked as Porter looked outside the windows into the Rolling Hills. Below, the Splicers were fighting each other tooth and nail.

"Yes. She's dead, but I didn't think that-…how did this happen?" Porter asked.

"_Oh yeah, one little thing I forgot to mention pal. Seems Johnson had some kind of pheromone based control system on her followers. With her gone, they go nuts! Atlas thanks you for throwin' Alex's forces here into chaos by the way. I've been rackin' my brains for months tryin' to figure out how to bump her off. Thanks for doin' it for me. Deal's a deal though. I'm in the Tea Garden and I'll unlock the doors for ya when you get here." _Poole said as Porter sighed and backed up towards the back wall, facing towards the windows and revving his drill again. He suddenly launched forward and leapt through the windows, shattering through them and landing on the ground outside. As he arrived on the ground, he noticed that most of the Splicers had killed each other and only one or two remained and they were more concerned with each other than Porter. Porter made his way back towards the Tea Garden, passing dead splicers as he went. As he reached the Tea Garden, he saw a sentry turret with blue lights set up at the front of the doors and a security camera with blue lights. The camera then focused on Porter.

"_Uh, hey Porter! You might want to get here quick! There's a Big Daddy headin' right towards me!" _Poole freaked.

"Yes, Mr. Poole, that's me." Porter replied.

"_Wha-…that Big Daddy is __you__?!" _Poole asked, alarmed. Then a third voice interrupted.

"_Mr. Poole, I can vouch for Mr. Porter. That Alpha Series you see is indeed Mr. Porter. And Mr. Porter, I apologize for Mr. Poole's deception but it was a means to an end. We needed Arcadia reclaimed. It's a vital part of my plan in dealing with Alexander and I suspect that our plans are probably the same, Mr. Porter." _Atlas said.

"I would need to know more of your plan before I can confirm it but for now, let us focus on the task at hand." Porter said as the doors to the Tea Garden opened, revealing a large assortment of turrets all pointed towards the doors and a small table with monitors and a short-wave radio set up near the passage to the Smuggler's Cave. Sitting at the table was Stanley Poole himself who rose from his chair with a nervous look on his face as Porter approached, the tall Big Daddy looming over him. Porter merely extended a hand.

"Mr. Poole." Porter greeted. Poole nervously took his hand, the two shaking hands in greeting.

"So uh…you're a Big Daddy, huh?" Poole asked, unsure of what Porter would do to him.

"That's correct. I am a former Big Daddy. I've been freed of my conditioning and my voice has been restored to normal. My mind is my own but my body still has much of the same Big Daddy physical conditioning. It was needed for my purposes here in Rapture." Porter explained as Poole started sweating.

"Oh okay. Say, you wouldn't happen to know any other Big Daddies like…oh I don't know…Delta?" Poole asked nervously.

"I am aware of your past involvement with Subject Delta, Mr. Poole. Miss Lamb told me." Porter replied, Poole beginning to look deathly afraid.

"Lamb? Oh crap! But she's dead ain't she?!" Poole asked.

"Sofia Lamb: yes. She committed suicide about a month after reaching the surface. I'm referring to Eleanor Lamb." Porter answered, Poole blinking in surprise.

"Eleanor Lamb? Oh…so she made it to the surface did she? Great! Glad she made it!" Poole replied, almost laughing with relief as he collapsed into his chair.

"Actually Eleanor is back in Rapture again. She is assisting us with our mission." Porter said, Poole turning white as a sheet.

"She is?" he squeaked.

"Yes and I highly doubt that she's going to harm you. She told us all about what happened between you, her, and Subject Delta and says it is in the past. We have a job to do. Now, where can I find the nearest Metro Station?" Porter asked as Poole climbed to his feet, grabbing the radio and a revolver.

"Port Neptune, for sure. Fastest way is through here." Poole said as he motioned for Porter to follow him into the Smuggler's Cave, leaving Arcadia behind them.

* * *

**End Chapter 5**


	6. The Metro Hub

"_Ach du liebe! I was on my way home and I'm riding the train from my lab at Fontaine Futuristics and there are these two strange people on the train with me, a man and a woman in matching clothes, bickering with one another. They then turn to me and ask if I could predict the outcome of a coin toss! A __coin toss__! I play along, picked tails, flipped the coin. Lands on heads. This seemed to disappoint one of them, Robert, I think the woman called him. I look away for a split second and they're gone! That's when I realized, I don't even remember getting on the train with them and the car was empty when I boarded! Was ist los?! I don't even splice and I'm still seeing things!"_

Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum  
"Heads or Tails?"

* * *

It was chaos in Point Prometheus. The Splicers were fleeing in droves, an explosion in the doorways leading into Point Prometheus knocking two to the ground: dead. Two more tried to block the door but another explosion ripped the doors completely off their hinges. From the smoke emerged Mark Meltzer and a pair of elite security bots armed with machine guns. Mark was swinging the firing mechanism to the launcher on his shoulder out so that it loaded another heat seeker into the tube. One of the Splicers tried to shoot him with what, at first, appeared to be an ordinary pistol but the bullet missed and downed one of the bots in a single shot. Before the Splicer could fire again, it was riddled with nails from a nail gun. Suresh Sheti stepped out from behind Meltzer, the nail gun in hand. The bots flew after the retreating Splicers, gunning them down. Mark took notice of the different pistol design, picking it up off of the Splicer's corpse and examining it curiously.

"It is a Hand Cannon, Mr. Meltzer." Suresh commented, reloading the Nail Gun.

"A Hand Cannon?" Mark asked, pocketing the gun in a watertight pouch.

"A weapon from Rapture's early days. Security groups and Private Detectives used them as side arms. More powerful than the average revolver, even after Fontaine introduced his Power to the People machines. A worthy firearm for you I believe Mr. Meltzer." Suresh explained as they stepped out into the Metro Station, the bodies of dead Splicers littering the floor, the security bots hovering in the air nearby. The two approached the Bathysphere which sat waiting for them.

"So where's this radio device I'm supposed to use?" Mark asked as Suresh stepped into the bathysphere and started tinkering with a panel near the back, pulling off the panel and then removing a small transmitter. He then removed the bathysphere's shortwave radio and sat down in the bathysphere.

"I will prepare it for you, Mr. Meltzer. For now, take this." He said, handing Mark the nail gun.

"What's this for?" Mark asked examining the crude weapon.

"For defense. You should not rely solely on your launcher. Having the right weapon could save you from certain death." Suresh explained while tinkering with the radio and transmitter.

"A good point." Mark said as the radio lit up, beeping infrequently. Suresh handed the device to Mark who attached it to his side.

"This device is water tight which is good for where you are going, Mr. Meltzer." Suresh said as he emerged from the bathysphere, gently nudging Mark back until they were away from the bathysphere. Suddenly a security bot armed with a grenade launcher flew in and fired a rocket into the Bathysphere, the explosion being enough to severely damage the vessel, causing it to sink rapidly into the water below.

"Now your path is clear, Mr. Meltzer. From here, you will be accompanied by Atlas's himself. We shall meet again later my friend." Suresh said as Mark gave a nod, heading towards the docking ring and jumping into the ring, sinking down to the ocean floor. The area outside of Point Prometheus's Metro Station was very close to the ocean floor and had been designed to account for the possibility of a sunken bathysphere with a large pit near the bottom that acted as a receptacle for the damaged vessels. Meltzer landed on the top of the sunken sphere and easily jumped from one side to the edge of the short tunnel leading out towards the ocean floor. As he reached the edge of the tunnel, he took a minute to marvel at the cityscape beneath the waves. He then heard a ticking sound from the radio with an intermittent beeping. This was to say the tracker was working. It was a short drop from the bathysphere tube and he safely landed on the ocean floor below. He started walking forward, the beeping starting to slowly increase in tempo. As he walked, he noticed what appeared to be an Elite Bouncer ahead of him, facing away from him. As he approached he quickly noticed that the Bouncer had been impaled on some rebar and had likely drowned before it could get free. It's harpoon-like drill had broken free and was sitting just out of its reach. Mark quietly reached down and picked up the weapon, needing an effective melee weapon aside from his fists, and continued on across the ocean floor. His radio then crackled to life.

"_Mr. Meltzer, can you hear me, boyo?" _Atlas asked.

"I can. Am I going the right way?" Meltzer asked back.

"_I can't tell from where I am but there is a way to find out. If I'm correct, you should be near a small structure beneath an Atlantic Express line." _Atlas said, Meltzer looking up ahead and seeing a line of the Atlantic Express and a small two story building built beneath it.

"I see it." Mark said.

"_Really? Good. Would ya kindly do me a small favor? I'm trying to help you and your friends regroup and this will help. I need you to go into that switch house there and reconnect a couple of lines that have gotten loose. I'll tell you which ones." _Atlas said as Mark headed for the switch house airlock. Once inside, he found the small building largely untouched internally. The airlock connected to a sort of locker room with three dismantled Rosie diving suits and four lockers. On the opposite end of the room was a kitchenette and dining table with a Circus of Values. A set of stairs ran towards the second floor. Lying on the floor in the corner of the room was a corpse that was at least ten years old if not older, a decade old blood spatter across the wall it slumped against, a strange looking shotgun lying next to it. It looked bulkier compared to the one Jack used and had only a single large barrel. Several ammo boxes sat nearby. Mark quietly picked up the shotgun, checking its ammo. Three shotgun rounds were loaded inside, one obviously having been used by its previous owner to blow his own head off. Mark put the gun and the ammo in his waterproof satchel and started up the stairs. As he reached the top, he saw a room full of different levers and switches, a control board showing the Atlantic Express routes on the back wall and a window showing three more rail lines in the distance. His radio came on again.

"_Ah there you are. Alright here's what I need you to do. This is a simple repair. There should be three switches in there. They look like they might control circuit breakers. I need you to throw all three of them in any order. They're right together. Can't miss them." _Atlas explained as Mark looked around and saw the switches in question on the far wall. A small sign above them read RCC.

"RCC? What does that mean?" Mark asked.

"_Probably some railroad term." _Atlas replied, clueless. Mark did as requested, throwing all three switches. The moment he through the last one, he heard a series of mechanical clicks coming from behind him. He turned and saw the levers controlling the points on the Atlantic Express were beginning to move on their own and the rail lines outside were beginning to move.

"_Thank you kindly, Mr. Meltzer. I recommend you continue towards the Metro Hub. We still need to cut off Alex's control of the bathyspheres." _Atlas explained. Mark started to leave and soon was back outside in the crushing depths. As he walked, he passed by one of the buildings and saw something peculiar. It looked like to humanoid figures, splicers probably, spinning around in a waltz-like dance. However as he passed the windows even closer, he saw that they were not Splicers in the slightest and looked remarkably normal save for the same colored clothes and hair, their fashion looking like it had come straight from the early 1900s. He passed a column which obstructed his view for a second but when he looked again, they were gone. Mark merely shrugged it off as ghosts from the ADAM that went into making him a Big Daddy two years ago.

He was climbing a hill on the ocean floor, passing several ADAM Slugs along the way but as he reached the top of the hill, he saw his destination come into view. The beeping from the signal device had steadily increased the closer he got to it. The Metro Hub looked like a large metal dome with bathysphere tubes lining the edges and at least one airlock located on one side. The airlock was open and waiting for him as he approached. He stepped into the airlock and threw the switch, the water draining from inside the airlock. Mark calmly removed the device from his side and turned it off, pocketing it. As the airlock opened into the hub, a short hallway with a staircase leading upwards, Mark exited it, moving slowly but cautiously. The staircase let him out into a large workshop that took up half the domed space, a large wall straight through the center from floor to ceiling, where the Bathyspheres were maintained. There was Splicer graffiti covering some of the walls, a large crane that was attached to the ceiling and had a track that was built along the curvature of the ceiling and could slide towards any of the docking stations for the Metro. The Hub was intended for maintaining the bathyspheres and the spheres would only return to the hub for routine maintenance or repairs. Most of the docking stations were empty and one of the maintenance areas was occupied with a bathysphere that had been partially disassembled. Sitting on a maintenance area near the center of the bay was a customized bathysphere with two jerry-rigged torpedo tubes mounted on the sides. The tubes were empty but two more torpedoes were sitting nearby, ready to be loaded.

"Alright, I'm in. How do I reengage the locks?" Mark asked.

"_You'll have to go into the Metro Hub's control room on the third floor. It overlooks the workshop." _Atlas replied, Mark glancing up towards the windows on the back wall, spotting the room in question.

"Got it." Mark replied, heading towards one of the hallways. Mark entered one of the hallways and saw a flight of steps leading up. As he climbed the steps, he heard the muttering of Splicers on the floor above. The stairs only led to the second floor so he'd need to find another way up to the third. The room on the second floor where the stairs ended was a room for storing parts and equipment for repairing the bathyspheres. There was one door leading into another part of the hub which was where Mark was headed and also where the Splicers could be heard talking.

"-Took both torpedoes. Atkins must be losin- her touch." One of the splicers could be heard saying.

"Don't let her hear ya say that! She'll do ta you what she did to Felix! Had a hole put through him so big you could stick your hand through and still not even touch him!" another splicer hissed. Suddenly the radio and P.A. systems clicked on.

"_Oye! All you lay abouts done reloading my bathy?! I want it ready to go in under an hour or I'll be sending the lot-a-ya outside for a walk!" _an Australian woman's voice ordered.

"Y-Yes ma'am! Right away ma'am!" one of the Splicers replied before three Splicers suddenly burst into the room where Mark stood listening. They took one look at him and froze.

"It's a Daddy!" "Bet he's got some ADAM on him!" "KILL 'EM!" the Splicers ordered but Mark had raised the shotgun, firing a single shot that blew straight through one of them. The two surviving Splicers raised crude clubs and charged at Mark but he fired a second shot, killing a second before bashing the other in the face with the butt of the gun but it wasn't enough to kill it.

"You gotta do that you dumb son of a b-AHHHHH!" the Splicer howled as Mark decided to test the harpoon drill from the dead Bouncer and plowed it into the Splicer's stomach, shredding the splicer to pieces with the drill. Mark then turned away from the scene, taking a moment to drop to one knee in disgust.

"_Oye! What's going on down there?!" _the woman asked over the P.A. as Mark fumbled to remove his helmet and proceeded to dry heave on the floor, disgusted by the sight of the gored Splicer.

"What was I thinking…I can't do this." He heaved.

"Strange he doesn't have the stomach for it this go around." A woman's voice said from nearby.

"Certainly had it two years ago, but then again his daughter was in danger." A man's voice added. Mark spun around towards the dead splicer and saw two people, a man in woman, in matching mustard colored clothes with orange colored hair, the woman examining a diagram of a bathysphere and the man holding Mark's Rumbler helmet, looking it over.

"Hey! What are you two doing? Where'd you come from?" Mark rasped, staggering to his feet.

"Different circumstances this time. Singular focus on a specific goal numbs the mind." The woman commented, ignoring Mark altogether.

"Take away the goal, take away the mental anesthetic." The man replied, setting the helmet down on a workbench and picking up the signal device off of Mark's side, poking at parts of it with a screwdriver.

"But why should this time be any different?" the woman asked.

"Well for starters, he's alive." The man replied. Mark was still out of breath from dry heaving to respond.

"True. One out of a million, I'd say." The woman said as the man reattached the signal device to Mark's suit.

"Consider yourself fortunate. You're one of only a few Mark Meltzers still alive." The man said.

"Alive and sane at least." The woman added.

"Lives, lived, will live." The man said, as the woman approached, picking up Mark's helmet.

"Dies, died, will die." She replied, handing Mark the helmet. He looked down at it curiously for a moment but when he looked back up, the man and woman were both gone. It was like they had vanished into thin air. Mark shook his head, certain he had been seeing things. He put three more rounds into the shotgun and pressed on. He entered the next room where a Circus of Values and an Ammo Bandito had been set up on the opposite sides of the room, flanking another door opposite the one he'd just passed through. On either side of his door were two flights of stairs going up. He took one of the stairs, walking up towards the third floor. As he arrived on the third floor, he found the controls for the crane facing out towards the front while in the back was an office, barred and locked with some kind of locking mechanism over the door. Mark took a step towards the door when suddenly he heard a loud gunshot and the shattering of glass from behind him while something put a large dent in the ceiling just ahead of him. He spun around and saw the window looking out over the maintenance area had been shattered. Outside the window however, standing atop the customized bathysphere was a woman, deformed from years of splicing, wearing a green one piece jumpsuit, the tattered remains of a brown leather aviator's cap and goggles, holding an elephant gun pointed straight at him. She smirked and rested the gun on her shoulder while raising a shortwave radio.

"_So, you're the Parasite that Alex is after. You lookin' to take my bathy away from me eh? It's not happenin'! Alex wants you dead metal daddy! But I ain't never fought a Big Daddy in a one on one fight before. Now that's gotta be more thrillin' than cave divin', bathy racin', and more. So we'll do this in a bit of a sportin' way! Try and survive as long as you can parasite!" _the woman yelled, patting a genetic key on her hip, before vanishing in a lime green cloud similar to the Houdini Splicers. Mark quickly hurried for the stairs, racing down and into the second floor workshop. As he did, his radio crackled to life.

"_Mr. Meltzer the dame you're fighting is Naledi Atkins! She's Alex's Lieutenant in charge of the Hub! She's the one who destroyed your bathysphere on Alex's orders! Kill her and get the genetic key off her! It's the only way you can get into that office and reengage the genetic locks on the bathyspheres!" _Atlas explained as Atkins fired a shot into the workshop, the bullet striking the wall behind Mark, narrowly missing him. He went charging straight towards the window, raising the harpoon-drill and leaping through the window, shattering it as he leapt through, landing on the first floor. He suddenly had to dodge a few quick shots from Atkins as she fired a pistol at him. He looked towards the crane track and saw her appear, leveling her gun towards him. Mark quickly ran for cover just as she fired a shot which missed him by an inch but left a nasty mark on the metal floor. Suddenly she appeared right in front of him with a pipe wrench in hand, leaping at him and smacking his helmet hard across the front. When she did that however, Mark's hand bumped the signal device which suddenly started playing a piercing high pitched melody, causing Atkins to put her hands to her ears, staggering back in agony from the piercing tune, even after the melody stopped playing. Mark was protected due to his helmet. Mark's radio then crackled to life.

"_Signal received." _An autonomous voice replied.

"_Wait, what?! How'd you do that?!" _Atlas asked, surprised.

"Do what?" Mark asked back, Atkins suddenly recovering from the disorienting loud song. She was about to attack again when the whistling sounds of security bots was heard. Mark turned and saw two elite security bots with green lights fly in, firing at Atkins as she teleported around the room at alarming speed, faster than any of the Houdini Splicers had before in the past. Mark watched as Atkins tried to escape the bots and finally raised the nail gun from Suresh towards her just as she shot one of the bots from the air with a single shot from her elephant gun. She was reloading on the fly as she tried to evade the remaining bot. Mark hadn't even pulled the trigger but Atkins was too fast for him.

"Guess I've got no choice." He grumbled as he raised the chemical sprayer and detached the napalm canister and started attaching a different canister. By the time he finished, Atkins had just taken out the last bot but Mark was ready for her, firing a grenade at her from his launcher but she teleported clear. She smirked at him and raised a pistol.

"Now this is the ultimate thrill!" she declared before teleporting to directly in front of him, intending to shoot him point blank in the face but was suddenly zapped by a steady stream of electric gel before suddenly being shot point blank between the eyes, by Mark's hand cannon. Atkins fell onto her back, dead from the shot to her head. Mark caught his breath, holstering the hand cannon and chemical sprayer.

"_Mr. Meltzer, I…I don't know what you did but…how did you call security?" _Atlas asked as Mark picked up Naledi's elephant gun and ammo, looking the gun over.

"I…I'm not sure either. I must've bumped the signal device during the fight. It just started making that noise." Mark said as he picked up the genetic key and started for the office.

"_Mr. Meltzer, that 'noise' triggered something. I need to look into this." _Atlas said in surprise.

"Are you alright?" Mark asked, climbing the stairs to the second floor.

"_I think so. I don't know what Suresh did to that signal device but whatever it was, it acted as sort of…emergency beacon calling for security bots for back up." _Atlas explained as Mark examined the device, thinking back to the two strange people from earlier.

"I don't think Suresh did anything to it that could've caused that." Mark said as he reached the third floor, approaching the door and inserting the key into a slot, the door unlocking and swinging open.

"_Well now's not the time to think about it. Have you reached the control room yet boyo?" _Atlas asked as Mark looked the room over.

"Yes but what do I do?" Mark asked.

"_If my guess is correct, the genetic locking codes that were in place under Ryan should still be plugged in. We just need to throw a switch and the genetic locks will be reengaged. The switch should be marked." _Atlas replied as Mark spotted a lever similar to a bathysphere control throttle with the words "Bathysphere Lockdown" on a metal plaque behind it. The lever was set in the off position. Mark quietly moved the lever to the on position, an alarm starting to sound in the Metro Hub.

"_Attention, Citizens of Rapture. All bathysphere travel is now restricted. Ryan Industries and the Rapture Metro apologizes for the inconvenience and thanks you for your cooperation."_ An automated female voice announced over the P.A. system.

"_That should do it. Let's see Alex get anywhere now." _Atlas said smugly over the radio.

"Atlas, you said if I helped you, you'd help me get a new bathysphere. How can I do that if I'm locked out of the bathyspheres?" Mark asked as he turned and headed for the door, pulling the key from the slot by the door into the control room, the door slamming shut behind him and locking.

"_Relax boyo, I'm not about to strand you in this God forsaken city. There are now only two people who can use the bathyspheres: Mr. Charles Milton Porter and your other friend, the Son of Ryan, and Mr. Porter's on his way to Port Neptune right now. There's a bathysphere there and it's only a short walk from the hub." _Atlas explained as Mark started down the stairs.

"Alright, I'll head there but I'll need a guide." Mark said as he reached the workshop, heading for the hole in the wall he'd made when attacking Atkins.

"_I'll lend you a hand, Mr. Meltzer. I'm not going to abandon you. But before you leave the hub, there's one last thing I'd like for you to do." _Atlas said as Mark jumped down into the maintenance bay.

"And that is?" he asked.

"_Drown the hub. Break the ceiling and let the sea reclaim it. It'll keep Alex's goons from getting in and undoing the lock again."_ Atlas replied as Mark reached one of the docking ports and turned back towards the bay, looking up and seeing the glass ceiling holding back the sea. Mark proceeded to fire a rocket straight towards the roof which exploded on impact, shattering the glass and allowing a fast rush of sea water into the bay. Mark quickly turned and jumped down into the docking port, heading out of the hub and back onto the ocean floor.

* * *

**End Chapter 6**

A/N: The Hand Cannon and Shotgun Meltzer found are indeed the Rapture variants of the same guns from Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea.

Oh and to hear the high pitched melody the signal device played…just look up "Songbird's call song" on YouTube.

Also, there's a bit of a discrepancy in regards to the timeline between Bioshock 2's There's Something in the Sea viral advertising campaign and Bioshock 2 itself. Bioshock 2 is said to have taken place at some point in 1968 but SITS comes to an end in February 1969 which is impossible since even the Bioshock wiki lists that Mark arrived in Rapture in 1968. To resolve this discrepancy, we're going to say Mark arrived in Rapture in early December of 1968 with the events of Bioshock 2 and Minerva's Den following shortly afterwards.


	7. A Change of Perspective

"_(Sigh) This is probably going to be the only record of this but…my name is John Thompson, I am…I __was __a shipwreck diver employed by Woods Hole to investigate the disappearances of ships in the North Atlantic. I found…I found this-this…place. Rapture. They captured me and sank the ship that got me here! They murdered my shipmates! I didn't find out about this until after this guy named Ryan had me locked up, thinking I was some kind of spook! The things I had to do to make some money just to survive here beforehand. I even had to sell some of my…well I won't record that. I just hope that somehow I make it out. Some folks think I'm a hero. Even gave me a nickname: Johnny Topside."_

John "Johnny Topside" Thompson  
"A Plea for Help"

* * *

Jack's bathysphere arrived in Hephaestus, Jack emerging from the sphere with his tommy gun loaded and ready to go. As he emerged and started cautiously heading towards Ryan's Office, his radio clicked on.

"_Alright kid, you've made it to Hephaestus but for the life of me I can't figure out what you're doing there." _Sinclair said as Jack took a second to check his pockets, finding and pulling out the Rapture Genetic Key, the same one Ryan had used to initiate the self-destruct and Jack used to cancel it ten years ago.

"I guess you could call it unfinished business." Jack replied, pocketing the key again and pressing on.

"_Don't suppose you can tell me what kind of business it is." _Sinclair said, Jack finally making his way into the glass tunnel towards Ryan's office.

"Let me put it to you this way, Mr. Sinclair. If you have a means of escaping Rapture, I suggest you use it." Jack said as his radio suddenly went silent. Jack didn't think much of it as continued towards Ryan's Office. Finally he entered upon the grizzly scene of Ryan's trophy wall outside the office entrance. Ten years hadn't improved the scene at all. However he saw one thing that made him blink in frustration. The entrance to Ryan's Office had been blocked by some kind of emergency bulkhead. Jack approached the bulkhead knocking on it and hearing a slight echo which meant that there was no water on the other side.

"Okay. I can get through this. I just need the right tools." Jack said as he turned away from the wall and headed for main engineering, passing a strange looking contraption that had been attached to the power cables to the long destroyed powered locks to Ryan's office. Jack took a moment to examine the machine. It hadn't been there ten years ago so it had to have been built sometime after he'd escaped Rapture. Sitting on one of the consoles was an audio diary labeled "Enigma Machine" by G. Alexander. Jack picked up the diary and put the tape into the radio, hitting play.

"_In reviewing the notes of the late Dr. Suchong, I stumbled upon plans for a strange device that Suchong never officially named, referring to it only as the L. Device . In an effort to determine the device's purpose, I have moved the original from Suchong's lab here to Hephaestus. The electrical supply Andrew Ryan used to power the magnetic locks on his office doors is one of the few power sources left in Rapture still capable of powering the device. However the Splicers have proven problematic. They seem to fear the device and leave it untouched but they have been causing a havoc with the power supply. It's all I can do to maintain enough power to the machine. As a result, I have been unable to activate the machine. It's purpose continues to elude me." _Gilbert Alexander explained as Jack noticed the schematics to the device on a nearby table, moving over and examining them curiously.

"Maybe this device can help bypass the wall. Not sure how though. That wall is pretty thick and I don't even know what this machine does." Jack thought out loud.

"He seems hesitant." "Agreed. I don't think he has the mindset of someone in the scientific field." A man and woman said from nearby. Jack spun around and saw a peculiar pair sitting on two of the metal poles impaled through two of Ryan's would-be-assassins on opposite ends of the room, the man regarding the corpse next to him curiously while the woman seemed to ignore the corpse next to her completely.

"Who are you two?! Where'd you come from?!" Jack asked in surprise.

"Severe trauma to the abdominal area, death near instantaneous." The man remarked while looking the corpse over.

"Caused by being impaled on a cast iron spear against a wall?" the woman asked.

"Well that would be obvious now wouldn't it?" The man replied before the lights started to flicker.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Jack ordered, the lights flickering and the two suddenly disappeared, startling Jack.

"For once someone didn't make a right cock-up of it." He heard the woman remark behind him. Jack spun around to see the woman was examining the device while the man looked at the schematics.

"Not as good as ours but still an admirable effort." The man complimented while writing something down on a pad of paper in his hand.

"Look, I don't know who you two are but I'm in a hurry. Any chance that this machine can get rid of that wall?" Jack asked as the man tore off a page of his notebook and handed it to Jack. The notebook had a sketch of what looked like a pressure valve, an arrow pointing to turn it clockwise. Beneath it was a sketch of a large power switch with an arrow pointing up and a drawing of a snowflake next to it. He then felt something small and metal lightly strike his diving helmet and hit the floor. He looked down and saw a silver coin next to his foot. He reached down and picked the coin up, the coin having been minted in a place called Columbia in 1900. He held the coin up in the light to examine it curiously and saw the two people standing together in front of him, facing him.

"We see tails." The woman said.

"And you see heads." The man added.

"It's all a matter of perspective." The woman replied.

"From this angle-…" "…-A wall. And from the other-…" "…-the door." The two said.

"So this machine can 'change the perspective' somehow?" Jack asked curiously, tossing the coin to them. The two looked at each other for a moment before looking back at him.

"Hmm. Seems he has the mindset after all." The woman commented.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up, he is a married man." The man said.

"And I don't think he'd be interested. Not this one anyway." The woman replied before the lights suddenly flickered, the two vanishing before Jack's eyes. Jack shook his head in surprise, at their disappearance, putting a hand to his head in worry.

"Okay, clearly those weren't ghosts." Jack mumbled as he looked at the sketch drawing from the man again, pocketed it before folding the schematics to the device up, stuffing it into a watertight container, and then headed for main engineering. As he entered engineering, he saw some kind of a drawing burned into one of the walls. It was intended to be schematics for various inventions but most of the labels were strange and misspelled and the measurements were absurd, some measuring only a few centimeters while others measured whole kilometers. He moved on from this burnt schematic and as he walked, he found more schematics for varying inventions burned into the walls and even the floor, each one just as absurd as the last. The core was still limping along despite the EMP Bomb Jack had detonated on it ten years earlier but had suffered some minor mechanical failures. As he walked through the deserted maintenance area, he saw the passage to the Workshops was blocked, water pouring through the bulkhead, indicating a breach. He proceeded to Heat Loss Monitoring. As he approached the passage to Heat Loss Monitoring, he found the corpses of several Splicers lying around but their bodies had been horribly mutilated and burned with what looked like an acetylene torch.

"Sinclair, are you still there?" Jack asked, his radio clicking back on.

"_I'm still here, son." _Sinclair replied.

"Can you tell me who exactly controls Hephaestus at the moment? Atlas or Alexander?" Jack asked.

"_Actually here's the thing. No one controls it anymore. Alex used to control it until one of his Lieutenants went rogue and started killin' off his own men. An ex-engineer named Jacob Norris runs Hephaestus now. I'd be careful if you run into him." _Sinclair said, Jack unable to shake the feeling that he was being followed.

"I appreciate it." Jack replied, holding his left hand close to his chest, the swirling winds of a Cyclone Trap beginning to swirl around his hand. As he reached the other end of the passage towards Heat Loss Monitoring, he threw down a Cyclone Trap directly into his path, stepping over it without problems. However his plan worked and he soon heard the startled yelp of someone behind him. He spun around and saw a Splicer with a welding mask on over its face and carrying what looked like a welding torch in its hand being launched into the air. Jack quickly raised his SMG and opened fire but the Splicer vanished in the red cloud of a Houdini Splicer just seconds before the lights flickered out, plunging Jack into Darkness

"Who dares come into MY home to steal MY work?! You one of them Pinkertons sent to bust up my Union?! Well I plan on getting paid for everything I've designed! It's Revolution! Right now!" a man's voice echoed through the room. Jack quietly had his shotgun ready to fire at a moment's notice. He quickly turned back and started running towards the door to Heat Loss Monitoring but saw a small flame appear in his path causing him to slide to a stop, firing the shotgun, the muzzle flash lighting up the Splicer in front of him as it held a welding torch ready to attack, causing him to cry out in pain before the familiar tearing sound of a Houdini teleport was heard. The lights flickered on and Jack was racing through the door, into Heat Loss Monitoring where he saw the pressure valve drawn on the paper ahead of him. He suddenly saw a fireball fly past his head. He quickly spun around, snapping his fingers at the Spliced Norris, incinerating him but he kept moving despite being engulfed in flames, only yelling out angrily. Jack had little time to react, raising his wrench and swinging at Norris but something struck his wrench mid-swing. Norris had blocked with his torch, a menacing laugh coming from the deranged splicer as they pushed against each other. Suddenly Norris gave a shove, the wrench getting sliced in two by the torch just missing Jack's hand by a few centimeters. Jack dropped the remaining half of his wrench, quickly firing an Electro Bolt at Norris, stunning him for a moment and then unleashing an Insect Swarm at him. Norris immediately turned and fled at the sight of the insects flying towards him.

"GAH! NO! I'm allergic!" he screamed as he ran out the door. Jack took a moment to catch his breath but looked down at the remains of his wrench. It had been by his side since he first arrived in Rapture ten years ago and had used it numerous times since leaving Rapture, albeit as an actual wrench. He quietly picked up the two severed halves, looking at them somberly before putting them in a watertight pouch. He then turned back towards the pressure valve, grabbing a hold of it and turning it clockwise. It didn't move at first but finally it gave way, and began to turn more easily. As he turned the valve, he heard the hissing and groaning of some of the pipes and machines in the area. He saw a pressure gage beginning to move towards the red but stopping just shy of it. The valve stopped turning before the needle could go any further. Jack then started looking around for the switch from the diagram but as he searched, he spotted a loose panel near the floor, a partially decayed human hand sticking through it. Jack stepped over and pried the panel loose, revealing a small hidey hole where a dead workman lay, an audio diary lying next to his body but there was also some other device, a strange contraption with three hooks attached to a green canister and motor. Jack pulled the corpse out, and used Telekinesis to pull the audio diary out. The diary was labeled "Damn Kids" and recorded by A. Harris. Jack put the tape in his radio and started it up while picking up the strange device.

"_Those damn kids have gone too far! I'm sure Jet-Postal would love to know why their Pneumo Lines keep breaking! Turns out some rambunctious teenagers keep riding on them using these…things! I saw my own son riding around on the Pneumo Lines and I confiscated his little contraption. He calls it an Air-Grabber. A lot of the other kids have them. Turns out that Mahanoy kid's been making and selling them to the kids and even to a few adults! I'd report them all to Rapture Security for destruction of private property but I can't afford their rates, not on my salary at least, and Ryan would just call me a parasite for going after the kid." _A man's voice said over the recording. Jack discovered the device fit perfectly over his left hand. He started it up and saw the hooks on it spinning wildly. He turned it off and continued his search of the Heat Loss Monitoring until spotting the switch in question in one of the water filled lower areas of the room. The breaker was up on the wall, the switch pulled down in the off position. Jack made his way into the water, climbing onto a desk beneath the switch for safety in case it electrified the water. He threw the switch, hearing the hum of machinery starting up around him. Luckily the water remained unaffected. He was turning to leave when he heard a metal screeching sound behind him and the machinery shutting down. He turned to see the switch had been switched off again. He threw the switch again and watched as the weight of the switch caused it to fall back into the off position. The screws keeping the switch secure had become loose and he didn't have the proper tools to fix it. That's when he recalled the sketch given to him by the twins. He looked at the picture and saw the snowflake drawing and he realized what it meant. He pocketed the drawing and threw the switch with his right hand, holding it up, and then hitting it with Winter Blast with his left, the ice forming over the switch and keeping it from moving. The machinery was now running and he quickly left the room, hurrying back towards Ryan's Office. But as he entered the corridor back to Main Engineering, the lights flickered off again. He heard Norris's deranged chuckling again.

"So you mean to work around here?! Gotta pay your dues boy!" Norris shouted in the corridor. Suddenly the room was illuminated by Norris's torch again but Jack was ready, firing a round from his shotgun at Norris but it wasn't ordinary rounds this time. He'd loaded Electric Buck into the weapon and now Norris was letting off a flashing blue glow as he was electrocuted. Jack seized the opportunity to slip around behind Norris and struck the torch's gas tank with the Air Grabber, the hooks spinning at full speed, leaving a large hole in the tank, causing fuel to leak out. Jack quickly leapt back just as Norris spun around, swinging the torch at Jack but missing him. Jack hit him with another Incinerate, igniting Norris but again he didn't react to the flames, only continuing his charge. This time however, the tank ignited, Norris's torch starting to splutter wildly as the gas inside of it started to ignite.

"What's wrong with this damn thing?!" Norris asked, distracted by the torch. Jack took the opportunity to open fire against Norris with his machine gun, but Norris roared in fury and teleported away, giving Jack an opportunity to escape, hurrying towards the exit. As he ran, he heard Norris starting to wildly sing a pro-union song, almost shouting it in deranged fury.

"Oh in our hands **is** placed a power greater than their hoarded gold! Greater _than_ the might of armies magnified a thousand fold! We can bring to birth a **new **world from the ashes of the old! For the Union makes us STRONG!" he shouted while Jack hurried up towards the hall to Ryan's office. But as he entered the glass tube, he was cornered by Norris again, Norris all burnt and fried. He ripped off his welding mask, showing deformed face as he glared at Jack, raising his torch like a club, the hose on the back of it having been torn clean off. Jack quickly raised his revolver, firing at Norris but Norris let out an angry yell, throwing fireballs at Jack but Jack retaliated with a Winter Blast, freezing Norris's left arm. Norris tried to move his arm but couldn't, giving Jack the opportunity to raise the Air Grabber and charge in. Norris tried to block with his frozen arm but the Air Grabber tore through the arm, shattering it into pieces. Norris howled in fury and pain, bringing his torch around to club Jack but Jack caught his arm in the Air Grabber, shredding his arm while giving Jack the opening he needed to shove his revolver up against Norris's chin and fire several rounds into him, ending the Welder's deranged reign over Hephaestus for good. Jack pulled the grabber free of Norris's arm, admiring the tool's lethality before pressing on.

"It's no wrench but it'll do." Jack said as he made his way back to Ryan's Office. As he did, he tapped the side of his helmet.

"Sinclair, let Atlas know that I've claimed Hephaestus back from that lunatic Norris for him." Jack said.

"_Really? Well you're certainly on fire son. I'll let Atlas know but I would like to know what exactly you plan to do in Hephaestus. I can tell by your tone earlier that it isn't good." _Sinclair said as Jack entered the outside area of Ryan's Office, heading for the strange machine and seeing that there was power running to it from the power lines that once powered Ryan's magnetic locks.

"I'll tell you shortly." Jack replied as looked the machine over, swallowing nervously before grabbing a hold of the switch.

"Nothing ventured…" he said before throwing the switch. The machine began to hum and crackle with electricity. Suddenly one of the supports on the machine buckled and it fell over at an angle, the bottom of the device pointed towards the wall blocking the entrance. Jack dove for cover before a white stream of energy lashed out towards the wall, creating a strange hairline crack of energy just over it. Jack watched as the stream turned into an open doorway only in monochrome with a strange static-like effect. Jack blinked at the doorway in surprise, climbing to his feet. He started to approach the doorway, cautiously reaching out, the door automatically opening for him, revealing the airlock leading into Rapture Central Control only in full color. Jack finally had an inkling as to what the strange twins had meant.

"A different perspective? Or a different reality?" Jack pondered, stepping through the door and into the airlock. A few seconds after he cleared the airlock, the strange door disappeared and a few seconds later, he heard a small explosion as the machine overloaded. However Jack also saw a small control switch on the other side of the airlock that had been switched. The airlock was open at both ends so he could just step right through into the abandoned remains of Rapture Central Control. The room hadn't been touched in the ten years since Jack had been there last and was almost exactly as he left it. He quietly threw the switch, raising the mechanical wall to allow for him to escape. However the airlock door leading out closed automatically as a safeguard. Jack headed for the door leading to Ryan's office, the door still blocked and now the air vent inaccessible with his diving gear on. He looked at the door and noticed that without power keeping it shut, the door could easily be pried open. The door didn't have any power left so he simply pulled the doors apart, stepping inside and finding the "Would You Kindly" wall was still there, completely untouched. Jack saw the image of himself from ten years ago, looking at it sadly. He then quietly removed the photos of him, Ryan, Jolene, Tenenbaum, and even the images of Fontaine and Suchong for good measure, rolling them up together and putting them in a watertight tube, wanting them as mementos. He then pressed on into Ryan's office but as he entered, he froze, stunned to see that, lying in the same spot where he had died ten years ago, was the body of Andrew Ryan, only slightly decayed, still with the dislodged golf club sticking out of him. Jack removed his helmet, setting it down on the ground nearby, then stepping over and pulling a white drop cloth off of a desk nearby before he knelt down next to his father's deceased form. He removed the club piece with a sad expression, and pulled the sheet over Ryan.

"I wish I had known. I wish things were different. I'd've liked to have known you better. I may not agree with your ideals or the way you went about them, but as your son, I still respect you as my father. I'm only sorry I was used the way I was, and that any chance of reconciliation died with you. Your dream, all that you worked for, is over. Rapture has been dead for nearly ten years now. It's time I put its ghost to rest." Jack said, rising to his feet and putting his helmet on, taking one last glance towards Ryan's body before turning and heading into Ryan's Office. He headed straight for the control board where the Self Destruct could be initiated. He took out the genetic key, looking at it for a moment as he clicked on his radio.

"Eleanor, Porter, Mark, and anyone else who can hear me: let it be known that there is a season for all things: a time to live and a time to die! A time to build, and a time…to destroy!" Jack declared, mimicking Andrew Ryan's own words, as he started to plug in the key but just before he could, his radio clicked on.

"_Not so fast!" _a man's voice ordered over the radio, causing Jack to pause. It was the voice of the man who had threatened them at the security center before he, Eleanor, and Porter had gotten separated.

"Who is this?!" Jack asked.

"_I have NOT spent the past ten years looking for Rapture, facing nearly every obstacle in my path to get here, just for Ryan's bastard child to come waltzing in here and take Rapture out from under me! You want to destroy the city?! You'll have to do it brick! By! Brick!" _the man yelled over the radio. Jack was looking around for some form of attack but saw a shadow moving behind him. He turned and saw a torpedo heading straight towards the control room. Jack's eyes widened and he quickly turned and ran, getting half way across the room went the torpedo hit, breaching the glass room where the self-destruct was set up, destroying the controls and starting to flood the office. Jack quickly hurried out of the office, the seawater surging into the room behind him. He made it into the Would You Kindly room, the doors slamming shut behind him to try and keep out the water but eventually buckling and allowing more water through. Jack finally reached the airlock, quickly closing it as the seawater began catching up, closing it just in time. Jack leaned against the airlock wall to catch his breath as his radio turned on again.

"_You've lost, Ryan. Rapture is mine. You tried to keep it from me, but in the end, I am the one who will keep it from you! I rule Rapture now. You can just pack up and go back to your cozy little home in the Carolinas and pout!" _the man said over the radio, Jack blinking in surprise.

"Carolinas?" he asked in surprise. He stood up off the wall, opening the bulkhead door and stepping out, into Hephaestus. He stood in thought for a moment as his radio came back on.

"_Kid! Are you okay?!" _Sinclair asked.

"Sinclair…is there a way for me to meet up with my friends?" Jack asked.

"_There is, yeah. Just take the bathysphere over to Fort Frolic. It'll put you in close proximity to one of your friends. Besides, you're probably the only person in all of Rapture who can use the bathyspheres now." _Sinclair said as Jack sighed heavily.

"Understood. Thank you Sinclair." Jack replied as he headed for the Metro Station. As he did, his mind was racing with questions.

"_The Carolinas? How did that man know I lived in the Carolinas on the surface? I doubt Eleanor, Porter, or Meltzer said anything. And there's something about what he said…that I tried to keep Rapture from him. This must be someone that I've met before. I think once I've regrouped with my friends, I'll need to have a word with 'Atlas' and see what he knows about Alex the Great." _Jack thought as he approached the bathysphere.

* * *

**End Chapter 7.**

Yes that is an Air Grabber from the Burial at Sea DLC and those are the Lutece "twins." I would also like to make one thing very clear regarding the tear Jack opened with the Lutece device. He did not pass over into another Rapture. Rather it was more akin to one of the more common tears that Elizabeth opens during combat. It only brings things through from other worlds into the world she's in, if that makes sense.


	8. Grace Under the Ocean

"_It would appear that despite her gifts, the girl didn't quite get everything right. To eliminate someone completely across all perspectives, while some would say is theoretically possible, has been proven to be impossible. The universe 'demands' that a person exist in some form in at least one world. We have dubbed this phenomenon the 'prime constant.' Fortunately in this case, the Prime version is the version we prefer. Another error in her logic is the constants she believed existed across all worlds. She claimed that there is always a lighthouse, always a man, and always a city. She is correct on those points but a liar all the same. A lie of omission is still a lie. But a lie of ignorance cannot be faulted. So the question is, was it a lie of ignorance or of deliberate omission?"_

Rosalind Lutece  
"Prime Constants."

* * *

The train carrying Eleanor from Olympus Circle arrived in Pauper's Drop, Eleanor watched as the train came to a stop at the station, surveying the dirty and rundown station. Her memories of Pauper's Drop from both her pre-Little Sister childhood years and Subject Delta's memories made it seem better than it really was. It had somehow gotten worse since Delta had been there two years ago. Eleanor emerged from the train, looking around cautiously before heading out towards the main area where the Fishbowl Diner was situated. As she went, her radio crackled to life.

"_Eleanor? Are you there?" _Elizabeth asked.

"I'm here. How are you holding up?" Eleanor asked back.

"_Don't worry about me. I'm not going anywhere. But I can see you on the cameras." _Elizabeth said as Eleanor looked around.

"Cameras?" Eleanor asked.

"_Surveillance cameras, not like the ones used for security. These just allow me to look and listen. They're hidden all over Rapture." _Elizabeth replied as Eleanor spotted a small camera hidden in the shadowy corner near a ceiling.

"_Stop staring, you'll give me away." _Elizabeth whispered. Eleanor immediately snapped around and continued on.

"So what am I doing here?" Eleanor asked.

"_Atlas sent me a message. He'd like your help clearing Pauper's Drop of Alex's men. He says to meet up with his Lieutenant in the Sinclair Deluxe on the top floor and…uh-oh, it looks like Alex is attacking the hotel right now!" _Elizabeth exclaimed. Eleanor quickly took off, running quickly through into the area outside of the Fishbowl Diner, letting out a Big Sister screech as she entered the area, running towards the door towards the Sinclair Deluxe. When she reached the door, she let out a second screech, using it as a warning that a Big Sister was coming. As she entered the glass tunnel leading to the hotel, she heard gunfire coming from ahead along with the whistling of security bots. As she entered the hotel lobby, she let out her third screech, extending both of her needles as she ran into the hotel atrium were at least seven Leadheads were firing at security bots and several stationary turrets. There were more splicers further in on the second floor judging by the gunfire down the halls. Eleanor dove into the crowd of splicers, impaling two from behind, turning and electrocuting one with a powerful Electro Bolt as he stood in a small pool of water. The remaining four Splicers were terrified of the sight of a Big Sister and ran only to be pulled backwards via telekinesis and skewered on Eleanor's needles. She then turned and teleported to the second floor, chasing after the Splicers, some of which were bouncing and bounding off the walls, floor, and ceiling as they evaded the turrets and their gunfire. Eleanor landed slightly ahead of one Spider Splicer and used a powerful Sonic Boom to smash him into the ceiling, the ceiling itself bucking beneath him as almost every bone in the Splicer's body was shattered. Eleanor turned and chased after two more Splicers as they tried to get to get to the third floor but one stepped into the light of a security camera with blue lights on it, the alarm immediately going off, two security bots flying in with guns blazing. Eleanor didn't have to worry about one of them as he was gunned down by one of the bots while Eleanor incinerated the last one with a snap of her fingers. With the Splicers dead, things were now silent for a moment until her radio came on again.

"_What's going on out there?! You lugs better not be dead! If you are you'll be doing double time in Persephone!" _a man yelled angrily over the radio. There was a short silence before the hotel P.A. system clicked on.

"_I don't know who you are, Tin Sister. But I recognize the symbol on you. If you're a friend of the Tin Daddy and of Atlas, then you are welcome here. But if you are here to end me…wrong turn, Tin Sister." _A woman's voice said over the speakers but Eleanor recognized this one and smiled.

"Aunt Grace." She said, hurrying back towards the atrium, teleporting up to the fourth and top floor, calmly approaching the door and retracting her needles, knocking on the door. The P.A. then came on again.

"_Who's there? No one knocks around here anymore…unless…" _Grace said before the P.A. clicked off. A few seconds later, Eleanor heard the sound of footsteps and the tapping of a cane as someone approached. The door then opened slightly, revealing Grace Holloway brandishing a China Broom shotgun but she lowered it at the sight of the Big Sister.

"Who are you, stranger?" she asked curiously. Eleanor quietly removed her helmet, lowering it and smiling happily at Grace. Grace looked at her curiously for a moment before realization dawned on her.

"Eleanor? Baby Eleanor Lamb is that you?" she asked almost breathlessly. Eleanor smiled and put her arms around her, almost tearful.

"It's good to see you again too, Aunt Grace." Eleanor replied as Grace smiled and put her arms around her in response.

"Oh Lord! Where have you been all these years, child!" Grace asked, tearfully.

"A far better place than Rapture. I've been on the surface for about two years." Eleanor replied as Grace led her to a couch, both sitting down.

"You've seen the sun, child?" Grace asked as Eleanor nodded.

"It's amazing." Eleanor replied.

"Then…what in God's name are you doin' back down here when you should be up there, livin' free?" Grace asked as Eleanor looked at the Greek letter Delta on the back of her glove.

"Unfinished business. I'm helping a friend with an important mission." Eleanor replied, leaning in close so Grace could hear.

"A friend?" Grace asked, confused. Eleanor quietly turned off her radio to prevent eavesdroppers.

"Jack Ryan, the son of Andrew Ryan, is here in Rapture. He's here to destroy the city so that the surface never finds it. It's a precaution to prevent Rapture's evils from reaching the surface." Eleanor explained softly as Grace's eyes widened.

"The Son of Ryan? Here in Rapture? To end it?" Grace asked in quiet surprise.

"I'm here helping him. I didn't know you were here though but now we can leave together and we can escape Rapture." Eleanor said as Grace smiled, looking up at the ceiling with a look of relief.

"Oh how I hoped this day would come. Tell me though, what happened to your Tin Daddy? He spared my life when he had every right to put me in the ground after all I'd done to him. Is he with you? I hope he's takin' good care of you on the surface." Grace said but Eleanor's smile of joy turned to sadness.

"He's…gone. He died shortly after we reached the surface two years ago. But he's a part of me. I extracted his ADAM so now he's a part of me. His drives, his beliefs, his devotion…he's my conscience, the angel on my shoulder." Eleanor explained as Grace smiled sadly for Delta.

"I'm so sorry child. What about Dr. Lamb?" Grace asked.

"Also dead. She committed suicide as a form of penance a few weeks after we reached the surface." Eleanor replied, showing no love for her late-mother.

"Probably for the 'greater good' I suppose. But it must be rough. Goin' through life on the surface without your momma or your daddy. But that's enough jawwin' out of me. We've got work we gotta do first." Grace said as she rose from the couch.

"Actually, I've not been living alone. I've been living with Mr. Ryan and his family. Some of the other Little Sisters he's rescued live with him. They're his adopted daughters and he and his wife officially adopted me shortly after I arrived. I have a family, Aunt Grace, and I know they'd love to have you a part of it." Eleanor said as Grace smiled towards her.

"When we get out of this rotten old town, I'll be happy to meet your family." Grace said as she led Eleanor to her secret back room where she had a hand drawn map of the drop on the desk. The entirety of Skid Row was circled with a red pen while the passage between Sinclair Deluxe was marked with a red X at both doorways while a skull and crossbones was drawn at the passage between the Town Square and the diner, a red arrow running from Skid Row straight through Town Square and towards the skull and crossbones.

"What's this?" Eleanor asked.

"Plans that Atlas has for takin' out Alex's hoodlums here in the Drop. Plans that we've just not been able to execute yet. See, the plan is, we block off these exits here to Skid Row from the hotel, forcin' everyone to go through the square, the long way, to get here or to the train station. But here between the diner and the square, we have a whole mess of those motorized guns ready to pick off anyone that tries to go that way." Grace explained as Eleanor looked over the map.

"You say Atlas came up with this plan?" Eleanor asked.

"It's my ticket to board his train out of Rapture. Least I can do. Rest of the city's turned against me anyway for turnin' on Doctor Lamb a couple years ago." Grace replied.

"How close are you to being able to execute the plan?" Eleanor asked.

"That's just it. We can block the passage but that just buys us time. The Splicers know there's no safe passage through the square so they just patiently break down any barricade we have blockin' the way here from the Row. What we need is to get them scurryin'. Don't give 'em time to think and just act and hopefully be desperate enough to run right into the trap." Grace explained as Eleanor pondered.

"I think I have an idea. What are Atlas's plans for the Drop?" Eleanor asked.

"Don't think he has any. He mostly just wants to get rid of what's left of the old Rapture Family. They're all too spliced up to know which way is up and they're all loyal to Alexander who's even higher on Splicin' than they are." Grace replied as Eleanor looked at her helmet.

"It's a war of attrition. He's trying to whittle away Alex's remaining forces so that there's no one left to fight against him." Eleanor deduced.

"You always were a bright child." Grace said with a chuckle.

"I've also been doing a lot of reading on the surface. Everything, from the Bible, King Leer, and even the Adventures of Captain Marvel. I've also been reading books on military strategy. What's Atlas's end goal?" Eleanor asked.

"He claims to want to get everyone still thinkin' out of Rapture. That includes me and at least two others but I've been hearin' other people talkin' with him over the radio so there may be more." Grace replied.

"Alright. So I have a plan to get rid of Alex's splicers and force them into the open. Just be ready to have the passage to Skid Row barricaded. I'll take care of the rest. I'll meet you at the Atlantic Express station." Eleanor said as she put on her helmet.

"You're going out there? Child are you-…" Grace said in an effort to stop her but Eleanor wasn't to be dissuaded.

"I'm still a Big Sister, Aunt Grace. I'm going to get you out of here. Pack whatever you may need and be ready to leave as soon as possible." Eleanor said before teleporting away.

…

Eleanor soon made it to the passage into Skid Row, noticing that there were mountains of debris and trash that had been swept aside. The failed barricades Grace had mentioned. As she exited the Securis bulkhead door into the glass tube leading to the Sinclair Deluxe from the Row, she turned towards the door and with her ADAM enhanced strength, she gripped the inner gear ring on the door and broke it off the door, locking it in place before turning and taking off towards the Row, letting out a Big Sister screech as she ran. She burst into the Row where dozens of Splicers were holed up, running past them, attacking them as she ran. Many of the Splicers were fleeing in terror of the Big Sister while some tried to attack only to be slaughtered by Eleanor's power. She made her way through the marketplace, running towards the Limbo Room. As she ran for the windows, she saw a Spider Splicer leap towards her from the ceiling, tackling her. The Splicer was wearing white and black striped clothes, indicative of a prison uniform.

"No Big Sister's gonna scare me off!" the Spider Splicer spat, brandishing a shiv. Eleanor launched him off of her with a Sonic Boom, sending him towards the ceiling where he grabbed on. Eleanor started to climb to her feet when she heard the propeller motors of a Security Bot. However when she turned towards the bot, she saw the pink lights of one of Alex's bots and one of the monitors showing his deformed eye.

"_Ah I thought I recognized you! Delta's Daughter, the Lamb, back to grace us!" _Gilbert Alexander hissed angrily. Suddenly the P.A. came on in the Row.

"_Attention members of the Rapture Family! Are you feeling betrayed by the People's Daughter?! Embittered by how she so callously stamped on your hearts by siding with her renegade father, Delta?! Well here's your chance to get even! Eleanor Lamb is right here in Pauper's Drop! Feel free to make her beg for mercy!" _Alex declared, eliciting an angry howl from the Splicers in the Drop. Eleanor looked and saw a huge swarm of Splicers spilling out into the area outside the Limbo Room, forcing Eleanor into the corner windows. The prison uniformed Spider Splicer landed in front of her as the disgruntled horde gathered around.

"You? You're the Lamb?! Why'd you leave us?!" the Splicer asked, Eleanor now backed into a corner, keeping them all at bay with her needles. The Splicers were all yelling at her, hurt and betrayed. Finally she'd had enough and let out a Big Sister screech, quieting them down.

"I am only going to say this once and only once!" Eleanor yelled, turning and stabbing one of her needles into the glass window behind her, breaking through the glass and creating a huge crack in it.

"I am not your bloody messiah!" Eleanor yelled before blasting the window with a Sonic Boom and teleporting away just as the glass shattered, causing the sea water to come rushing in, flooding the Row. The Splicers started to flee in all directions, rushing towards the exit to the Row. They then heard another crash followed by the rush of seawater as Eleanor shattered another window near the marketplace. Eleanor quickly teleported ahead of the Splicers, running through towards the Sinclair Deluxe, teleporting through the destroyed bulkhead door and hurrying around and out towards the diner. As she exited into the diner area she saw Grace making her way towards the train station, carrying a suitcase. Eleanor retracted her needles and hurried after her, hearing the sounds of gunfire and the screams of Splicers as they were felled at the ambush site.

"Hurry! We can't wait!" Eleanor exclaimed, picking up the suitcase and helping Grace down the hall, not noticing as the Splicer in the prison uniform emerged from an air duct over the abandoned Flower Emporium, snarling at the two as they left. Eleanor and Grace were nearing the station, Eleanor turning her radio back on.

"Elizabeth! Are you still there?!" Eleanor asked, looking at the camera she had spotted earlier.

"_I'm here! What's going on?! What have you done?!" _Elizabeth asked.

"I've flooded part of Pauper's Drop! What's the train's next destination?!" Eleanor asked back.

"_Dionysus Park!" _Elizabeth replied as Eleanor ran ahead to the train station.

"Understood! Is there any way to link up with one of my friends?!" Eleanor asked.

"_Dionysus Park links up to another part of Rapture! I think one of your friends is on their way there now!" _Elizabeth replied as Eleanor reached the steps to the station platform, turning back towards Grace who was moving as fast as she could but running out of breath.

"Thanks." Eleanor replied. Grace stepped into the station and was half way to the steps when a figure dropped down behind her from an overhead vent. Grace turned just in time to be shanked in the stomach by the prisoner splicer.

"NO!" Eleanor yelled as Grace fell onto her back.

"Louie said he'd kill the warden! I did what I said I was gonna do, Alex! I did what you and the shadow man said! Louie McGraff did what he said he'd do!" the Prisoner yelled, not noticing the lights in Eleanor's helmet turn blood red, an unnatural red glow appearing around her as she started at the wounded Grace. The Prisoner suddenly found himself floating off the ground, Eleanor's needles extending on their own. Eleanor let out a deafening Big Sister screech, so powerful that it cracked the glass on the security booth in the station. McGraff was suddenly pulled through the air and impaled on the ends of Eleanor's needles, his ADAM being forcefully drained from his body. Louie was screaming in pain throughout the process. Finally he was out of ADAM and Eleanor threw him down on the ground, the crippled Splicer helpless but to move. She then stormed over, picked him up by the collar and threw him into a chair.

"I remember you! I remember what you did! You were one of the Splicers sent to kidnap me from my father twelve years ago! It was you! You were the one who used the Hypnotize plasmid on him! Your own memories are your confession!" Eleanor yelled, grabbing McGraff by the hair and sending a lethal constant stream of Electricity through his body, causing him to scream in pain until he suddenly went silent. Eleanor then tossed his fried body away, his body turning to dust as it hit the wall. The red glow around her then disappeared, the light in her helmet turning normal again as she turned towards Grace, rushing to her side as she heard her coughing. She quickly retracted her needles and tried to treat her wound.

"Aunt Grace! Please! Hang on! I can help you!" Eleanor pleaded but Grace only smiled at her.

"Don't weep for me child. I done wrong by you. Keepin' a secret from you. Tryin' to stop your daddy. I just wanted to leave this place. Now I am." She said as she gently took Eleanor's hand. Eleanor quickly removed her helmet, looking at Grace, tears welling up in her eyes, shaking her head.

"No. No you never did wrong by me. It was never your fault I became a sister. It wasn't." Eleanor replied, trying to keep Grace alive but Grace had something else in mind, moving Eleanor's hand towards Grace's suitcase.

"I always believed in angels. I remember back home in Saint Louis, every Sunday, we'd hear the folk paradin' down to the river from the church near our home, singin'. As a child, I always thought that, that's what the songs of angels sounded like." Grace said, looking dreamily towards the ceiling as she pushed the suitcase into Eleanor's hand. She then heard Grace start to weakly sing…

"_Will the circle be unbroken?  
By and by, by and by.  
There's a better,  
home awaitin' in the sky,  
Lord, in the sky…"_

Grace sang, her eyes closing and breathing her last with a smile as she finished the chorus, leaving Eleanor to bow her head in grief, tears running down her cheeks. he took a breath and composed herself, moving Grace's stiffened hands so they were over her chest in a burial pose, still deeply saddened by Grace's passing. She then picked up the briefcase, boarding the train and pulling the lever, the doors to the train closing as the train started down the track. As she rode along into the water for Dionysus Park, Eleanor opened the suitcase revealing an interesting assortment of items inside: a plush doll of a Bouncer Big Daddy, a vinyl record of Grace's performance in the Limbo Room, a gold colored Luger P08 which was the same one that Sofia Lamb had ordered Delta to commit suicide with, and a round metal tin with the Accu-Vox brand logo on the sides and lid and a note with Eleanor's name taped to the lid of the tin. Eleanor took the note and opened it, the note reading…

"_Eleanor. If I may die before I have the chance, there's something you must know. Something that Alexander gave me before Doctor Lamb spliced him up. He wanted it stashed away. He feared what Doctor Lamb might've thought if she found out. It's all on the tape. Please…forgive me child for keeping this a secret from you but ever since your daddy spared me, I knew I had to tell you. – Grace."_

Eleanor set the note down and opened the tin, a reel of tape with a label on it reading "Delta &amp; Eleanor" and recorded by "G. Alexander." Eleanor quietly plugged the tape into her radio and hit play.

"_I've made an interesting discovery in regards to the pairbond. For some reason, Subject Delta's pairbond with Eleanor Lamb seems to be stronger than all subsequent bonds between the Alpha Series Big Daddies and their Little Sisters. I looked at the genetic samples of the two and as I examined them for some sort of clue, I stepped back and it suddenly came together. Accounting for ADAM's inherent DNA modification, Eleanor Lamb DNA is nearly a fifty percent match for Subject Delta's own! I compared a DNA sample we took from Delta before we started splicing him up at Fontaine's and from young Eleanor Lamb's DNA before we made her into a Little Sister just to be sure, and it's even more of a match. There can be only one conclusion: Subject Delta is the father of Eleanor Lamb, both figuratively and literally."_ Gil Alexander recorded, Eleanor's eyes widening in surprise and shock. She looked to the back of her hand, looking at the Delta emblem printed on the back as tears welled up again in her eyes.

"Father…" she said with sadness, missing Delta all the more as the train continued through the gloom of the sea.

* * *

**End Chapter 8**

This chapter plays off of two concepts that Irrational Games had in regards to Bioshock 2.

The first is that the same model used by Louie McGraff for Bioshock 2: Multiplayer is reskinned as the Splicer who hit Delta with the hypnotize plasmid in the opening cutscene of Bioshock 2.

The second is a rejected concept by Irrational where Subject Delta was Eleanor's biological father as well as her Big Daddy protector, but there is one discrepancy however that disproves this theory. According to the Bioshock Wiki, the man who would go on to become Subject Delta arrived in Rapture in 1957 which is five years after Eleanor was born which would render the idea of Delta being Eleanor's biological father to be impossible. But this is a work of fiction so for the sake of the story, we're assuming he arrived in 1951, a full year before Eleanor's birth in 1952. Eleanor is eighteen by this point, just in case you were wondering.


	9. The Sea Incarnate

"_ADAM is a surprisingly clean substance. It feeds partially on harmful bacteria or kills it outright. Bacteria itself seems to shy away from its mere presence. Here's the other thing too! It's able to recognize malicious diseases from beneficial bacteria, overall improving the general health of the user! If this is the case, then EVE Hypos, Plasmids, and Gene Tonics that are simply left lying around would be perfectly safe to use as the ones kept in sterile environments. This is good news for the new friend of the Little Ones from the surface. He'll be able to pick up EVE Hypos and use them without fear of picking up an infectious disease. If I ever leave Rapture, then perhaps ADAM will be the key to curing the ailments of the world. But…I am reminded of how this mess got started. What was intended to be used as a force for good, was quickly turned into something that will haunt me for the rest of my days."_

Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum  
"The Cleanliness of ADAM"

* * *

Porter and Poole both exited Fontaine Fisheries into Neptune's Bounty. They had traveled through the Smuggler's Cave into the port and were now making their way towards the Metro Station.

"So there wasn't much talkin' between you and the other big guys, was there?" Poole asked, still nervous by Porter's condition as a Big Daddy.

"No. Speech was beyond our capabilities and we really didn't have the luxury of free will." Porter replied.

"Oh…so uh I don't suppose you could tell me who your Little Sister was, could ya?" Poole asked.

"I never had one. I wasn't bonded with one." Porter replied as they passed the Gatherer's Garden.

"Oh…well…lucky you…I guess." Poole stammered.

"I suppose so." Porter replied. He didn't really mind Poole's questions and was rather indifferent towards the ex-reporter. Poole would occasionally glance towards Porter's drill, a look of fear on his face.

"You've been asking me a lot of questions lately, Mr. Poole. Now it's my turn if you don't mind." Porter said as Poole shrugged.

"Turnabout is fair play I suppose. Ask away." Poole said.

"Have you ever met Atlas face to face?" Porter asked as they stepped out onto the pier leading towards the Metro Station.

"That's actually a good question. Nope, never have. He contacted me a couple of years ago out of the blue. I was tryin' to escape Lamb's followers after ol' Delta let me live. They had me cornered in Fort Frolic and were gonna kill me for sure when all these whirly birds flew in and saved me! Then Atlas calls me on the radio and says he'd like my help. Offers me a way outta this hell hole in exchange for my cooperation. Said he wants to get everyone still thinkin' out of Rapture." Poole explained as Porter arched a curious eyebrow.

"Everyone still thinking…" Porter muttered to himself in thought as they entered the Metro Station where the Bathysphere was waiting for them. As they approached however, they heard the P.A. System click on.

"_Attention, Citizens of Rapture. All bathysphere travel is now restricted. Ryan Industries and the Rapture Metro apologizes for the inconvenience and thanks you for your cooperation."_ A woman's voice announced over the speakers, Porter and Poole both coming to a stop just outside the bathysphere.

"ARGH! You've gotta be kiddin' me! We get this close to the sphere and they get locked down?! Now how are we supposed to get outta here?!" Poole asked.

"I might be able to use it." Porter replied as he stepped into the sphere and reached for the lever but the minute he did, he received a painful shock, causing him to recoil.

"You need any help there pal?" Poole asked as Porter exited the bathysphere.

"I take it there's no other way out is there?" Porter asked but Poole shook his head.

"Not a chance. With the Metro locked down the only usable means of transit left in Rapture is the Atlantic Express and the Express don't run through the port. Now you could get out by just takin' a walk outside but me…well I'm not exactly built for swimmin'." Poole replied.

"I'm not going to just leave you trapped here. There has to be some way of getting out of here." Porter said as they started heading back towards the wharf.

"Got any ideas?" Poole asked.

"I might. The bathyspheres are restricted to everyone except for Ryan and his inner circle. I know there's one man in Rapture who can still access them. If I could get a signal to him, then perhaps he can bring a bathysphere to rescue us." Porter explained.

"And if you can't get a signal to him?" Poole asked.

"Then we try and find a way to bypass the genetic locks. If we could find one of the genetic keys, we could use it to override the lockdown." Porter explained as they reached the pier.

"And where would we find that?" Poole asked.

"The Wharf Master should have something like that in his office." Porter replied as Poole smirked, hooking his thumbs into his suspenders.

"I know where that is. Leave that part to me. I'll be back before the Early Edition." Poole said before running off into the Wharf, heading for the Wharf Master's Office. Porter in the meantime started looking for parts to build his transmitter. As he did, he decided to give his radio a try anyway.

"Mr. Ryan, can you hear me?" Porter asked but only got static.

"Mr. Ryan, this is Charles Milton Porter. Can you read?" Porter asked into the radio but again got nothing but static. As he made his way towards the door back into the Fisheries, he saw a shadow move across in front of him. He turned to see what was making the shadow and his eyes widened. Outside the large glass windows of the fisheries was what appeared to be a large submarine. Porter recognized the design as an Austen Bathysphere Streamliner, having seen plenty of advertisements for it around Rapture. This one however had been underwater for a long time and looked rusty, small patches of coral growing on the hull, barnacles appearing on the hull as well. The sub turned away from the fisheries, disappearing into the gloom as his radio crackled to life.

"_I see ye out there! Tryin' ta keep ol' Zigo out! Ye seek ta keep the city ta ye self! Well Zigo shall not let ye keep it! Rapture belongs ta the sea and it be Zigo who will reclaim Rapture for the SEA!" _a man said with a pirate accent. Porter watched the windows until he suddenly saw the sub reappear but moving at high speed towards the window and not slowing down. Porter quickly turned and ran, racing into the Fisheries just as the sub crashed through one of the windows, lodging itself halfway through, its hull stopping most of the water from pouring through but the pier furthest away from the Metro station was destroyed by the sub.

"Mr. Poole! We've got company!" Porter exclaimed into his radio as he hurried towards the Wharf Master's office.

"_No kidding!" _Poole replied as Porter reached the upper level of the Wharf, looking out as he saw a large heavyset figure emerge from inside the crashed sub, glaring up at Porter with a deranged snarl. He then lifted up a fully upgraded spear gun and fired a spear straight at Porter but Porter had leapt clear, the spear striking the wall harmlessly. Porter quickly raised his machine gun and returned fire but his bullets just seemed to sink into Zigo's skin, not having any effect. Zigo sneered at Porter and fired another spear, nearly hitting Porter had he not dodged to one side.

"Fight all ye want! The sea be patient and the sea be gettin' what it wants!" Zigo yelled as Porter hurried towards the Wharf Master's Office, setting proximity mines, trap rivets, and trap spears in his path as he ran. Finally he reached the office only to find the door to the interrogation chamber locked with Poole inside.

"Mr. Poole!" Porter yelled.

"_I'm still lookin' for the key! Keep fatso busy! I'll keep lookin'!" _Poole replied from the inside over the radio.

"Alright but hurry!" Porter replied, hearing his bombs and traps being set off. He turned started hurrying back the way he came, stopping in front of a large hole in the wall leading down to the upper wharf. He turned to face the steps as the traps stopped going off, an Incinerate plasmid ready to fire when all of a sudden he felt something wrap around his waist from behind and pull him backwards through the hole, slamming him down onto the floor of the upper wharf below. He looked and saw Zigo standing there, a strange tentacle made of water running from his left hand and wrapped around Porter's waist.

"Poseidon's Wrath in a bottle! Undertow!" Zigo yelled as he threw Porter across the Wharf, Porter quickly climbing to his feet. He quickly fired an Incinerate charge at Zigo but the flame puffed out on impact, Zigo's body being too fire retardant to catch fire.

"Ye be tryin' ta grill me, matey?!" Zigo asked as Porter scrambled to get to his feet, raising his Ion Laser and firing. This time it had an effect, Zigo convulsing as he backed away in pain from the Ion Laser. Porter kept firing until he had to change ion cells, but when he stopped to reload, Zigo had him in the Undertow again and he was furious. Zigo snarled as he threw Porter off the edge of the Pier into the water below. Porter quickly tried to get out of the water but Zigo approached the edge of the upper wharf, loading a trap spear into the spear gun, aiming it right at Porter.

"Ye be tryin' ta grill me matey but in the end, I be grillin' ye!" Zigo yelled, preparing to fire the trap spear when they both heard gun shots coming from behind Zigo, hitting him in the back but his rubberized skin was unharmed. Zigo turned and saw Poole holding a pistol on Zigo.

"Are ye tryin' ta hurt Zigo?! Are ye tryin' ta defy the Sea Incarnate?!" Zigo asked before ensnaring Poole with the Undertow and throwing him into the water below.

"Mr. Poole!" Porter exclaimed as he turned to try and help Poole out of the water but before he could, a trap spear was shot into the water, the electrified cable firing up towards the ceiling. Poole looked at Porter with a look of helplessness just before the water started flashing with electricity, Poole letting out an agonized scream as he was electrocuted to death, Porter helpless to do anything but watch. Zigo let out a triumphant laugh.

"Yar! The Sea claims one fish! Now for the other!" Zigo declared, not noticing as Porter turned back with his spear gun and fired a rocket spear at the deranged Splicer, the spear piercing Zigo's skin, causing him to yell in pain as the spear exploded.

"YAR! Ye not be gettin' away with this!" Zigo yelled as Porter fired an Electro Bolt at Zigo, stunning him long enough for Porter to run into the doorway beneath him, hurrying back towards the upper level but as he was running, he heard a loud crash behind him and turned to see the ceiling give way behind him, a watery tentacle bursting through before retracting back inside. Zigo dropped down through the hole in the ceiling, facing Porter and smacking him hard with the Undertow, launching him backwards towards the edge of the walkway leading towards Fontaine Fisheries. Porter tried to fight back but Zigo approached him, aiming his spear gun at Porter's head.

"And with this spear, I reclaim this land for the sea!" Zigo said, preparing to pull the trigger when suddenly they heard a piercing loud melodic whistling sound, echoing through the fisheries, causing Zigo to drop his spear gun and cover his ears while screaming in alarm. Porter turned towards the source of the sound and saw a Rumbler Big Daddy standing at the opposite end of the deck, holding a strangely modified shortwave radio, and an Elephant Gun. The radio was making the strange sound. Suddenly two security bots came flying in from overhead, one with an Ion Laser and one with a shock arm, the two bots flying in and attacking Zigo, forcing the Splicer to turn his attention to them. Porter was unsure of what to make of the Rumbler until he saw it raise the elephant gun and fire at Zigo, firing a shot that blew Zigo's right hand clean off. Zigo was screaming in pain now, still being attacked by the bots.

"Porter! NOW!" the Rumbler yelled. Porter quickly leapt to his feet, revving his drill up to maximum speed and charged into him, driving the drill into Zigo's stomach, a shower of blood and gore flying into the air as he impaled Zigo. Finally Zigo fell silent, his head falling back with a frozen look of abject disbelief on his face. Porter pulled the drill free, allowing Zigo's corpse to fall backwards off the platform into the pool of water below. Porter then turned to the Rumbler, the bots flying away, while the Rumbler approached.

"Mr. Meltzer?" Porter asked.

"Sorry I'm late." Mark replied.

"I appreciate the help but…shouldn't you be guarding the bathysphere?" Porter asked, Mark glancing away in shame.

"It's gone. Alex's goons destroyed it. I've been trying to find a new one but I'm not succeeding so far." Mark replied shamefully but Porter placed a hand on Mark's shoulder.

"Don't worry about that. You did what you could. The trick will be finding a way to bypass the genetic locks on the bathyspheres. They've been reengaged." Porter said.

"Yes I know. I reengaged them but I think I have a solution to the locks." Mark replied, holding up the genetic key he'd picked up in the Metro Hub. Porter looked at the key and chuckled.

"Good work Mr. Meltzer. Have you been able to contact Eleanor or Jack?" Porter asked but Mark shook his head, pocketing the key.

"No. Sorry. I keep getting static." Mark replied as Porter thought for a moment.

"What about that signal device of yours there? Let me see it." Porter said as Mark handed him the device, looking it over for a moment in silence.

"You think that's causing some kind of interference?" Mark asked.

"I don't think so. But it is curious. Was this the device that signaled for the security bots?" Porter asked.

"Yeah. It's the second time it happened." Mark replied.

"I thought I recognized that tune and it confirms a suspicion of mine." Porter said, handing the device back to Mark.

"What suspicion?" Mark asked.

"I'll explain on the way. Right now, we need to get in touch with our friends and the only way to do that is by heading to the Rapture Radio Broadcast Center." Porter replied.

"Rapture Radio? Alright, but how do we get there?" Mark asked as Porter held up the genetic key.

"This should allow us to override the lockdown on the bathysphere here in Port Neptune. Come on, let's hurry!" Porter replied as he and Mark started to head for the exit, Porter taking a moment to look towards Poole's floating corpse in the water with a look of sadness before wordlessly pressing on.

"So what's this suspicion of yours?" Mark asked.

"During the war, I worked for Alan Turing to crack the German codes. During that time, I was given a bodyguard, an African-Irishman named James Fitzroy. Parents immigrated to Ireland from Georgia in the mid-1920s and he joined the military as a British Commando. Friendly fellow, always had a smile on his face. When he wasn't working, Fitzroy was always at a local pub in London, toasting the Allied soldiers and denouncing the Axis. I still remember he'd try and make up a war song to the tune of an old Irish jig." Porter explained as they reached the Metro Station.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Mark asked.

"The tune that your radio makes to summon the security bots is the same tune as Fitzroy's jig." Porter replied, confusing Meltzer.

"You got that from the tune?!" Mark asked.

"No. I'm the one who programmed it into the security system. I built Rapture Central Computing, remember? Whenever security gets tripped, the system transmits a signal with the same tune to Rapture Central Computing, using it as an alert message and its response is to deploy security bots to the location. You can't hear it but the computers do. Somehow this radio is set to emit that frequency and summon the bots. How did you accomplish that I wonder?" Porter asked as they stepped into the bathysphere, opening a panel beneath the control lever, revealing a slot for the genetic key.

"It's…hard to explain." Mark replied, glancing out the bathysphere only to see the strange twins standing outside, the woman watching the man juggle a few baseballs. Mark said nothing, looking back as Porter plugged in the key and pulled the lever, the bathysphere door slamming shut before the bathysphere started to dive into the waters of Rapture.

* * *

**End Chapter 9**

James Fitzroy is indeed a nod to Bioshock Infinite's Daisy Fitzroy. In this universe, James is Daisy's son. And yes the Undertow Plasmid is the same as the Undertow Vigor from Infinite. How'd it get there? I direct you towards the Burial at Sea DLC.


	10. Parks

"_Eleanor's condition continues to improve as the treatments progress. However I am…disquieted by how steadily Subject Delta progresses in his quest to reach Eleanor. I remember Mr. Alexander saying that the bond between Eleanor and Subject Delta had been deemed stronger than normal when compared to other Alpha Series and their Little Sisters. He didn't say why but I suspect I know the reason. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the man who became Subject Delta was the donor of the sample I used to artificially conceive Eleanor. The sample was chosen at random and acquired from one of Fontaine's businesses and Delta __was__ one of Fontaine's plasmid and tonic test subjects prior to becoming Eleanor's protector. Regardless, I shall not let biological bias get in the way of making Eleanor the People's Daughter."_

Dr. Sofia Lamb  
"Paternity Test"

* * *

The bathysphere from Hephaestus surfaced into the docking port at Fort Frolic, the door opening and allowing Jack to exit. He looked around at the Bathysphere station and noticed that the purple curtains that Cohen had set up in the station were all mildewed and tattered. The plastered bodies that once dangled from the ceiling had mostly all fallen to the ground and a couple of them were floating in the water. The giant rabbit mask had also crashed and fallen, with one ear and one eye still visible above the water. Jack quietly left the station, heading for the bathysphere leading back to Arcadia but as he stepped into the station area, he saw the passage leading into the Arcadia Bathysphere station was blocked by debris. He growled in annoyance.

"Sinclair you said that one of my friends would be here." Jack said impatiently.

"_I'm not lyin' to ya sport. Fort Frolic is connected to another part of Rapture by way of a conveniently hidden airlock. Head on over to Poseidon Plaza. Your friend's train should be arrivin' any minute now." _Sinclair replied as Jack sighed heavily and started to enter the atrium of the abandoned pleasure center. As he approached the entrance, he heard what sounded like a piano playing inside, playing a hauntingly familiar tune. Jack hurried into the atrium and stopped to blink in surprise at how much Fort Frolic had changed over the years. The staircase to the second floor of the atrium had long since collapsed, some of the neon signs having fallen and crashed to the ground and the Quadtych had been thrown off the stage, the plaster bodies lying strewn about the atrium and the photos of Cohen's ex-disciples torn and faded beyond recognition. The stage itself had sunken slightly to one side and a Baby Grand Piano sat in its place. Sitting at the piano was a woman in what was once an elegant white dress but now torn and tattered. Her face was also horribly disfigured due to years of Splicing. The woman noticed him and leapt to her feet.

"What is this?! I am not prepared for visitors! Go away! Leave me alone! I will not see the public now!" the woman yelled in a French accent, raising a small handheld crossbow, firing it at Jack who quickly took cover, holding his tommy gun ready. The woman suddenly turned and fled, running away. Jack gave chase, running after her but he kept having to take cover as crossbow bolts ricocheted off the walls, missing him. He chased her into the Frozen Tunnel but as he approached, one of the bulkheads that had been blocked ten years ago had been cleared, the woman running through into another glass tunnel but this one looked like it had been underwater for some length of time and drained within the past two years, the ground covered with sea sludge and with traces of dead coral and sea life. He chased her through a pair of double doors, beneath a sign that read "Dionysus Park," chasing her into a large ruined area where the remains of a carrousel sat partially sunken in the mud. She ran up a short flight of stairs, Jack firing at her as she ran into what used to be a piano bar. As she ran through the doors of the piano bar, she suddenly leapt towards the ceiling, Jack rushing in but finding no sign of her.

"Damn." Jack grumbled. He then heard his radio crackle to life.

"_Mr. Ryan?" _a familiar voice asked.

"Eleanor?" Jack asked back.

"_I can hear you Mr. Ryan! Where are you?! We must be close enough for our radio signals to be picked up!" _Eleanor said as Jack looked around, remembering the sign that he'd run through a moment ago.

"I'm in a place called Dionysus Park. Where are you?" Jack asked.

"_Dionysus Park? That's where I am! I'm in the Atlantic Express station! Meet me there!" _Eleanor replied as Jack spotted a sign pointing him towards the train station. He quickly hurried into the halls, following the signs while keeping an eye out for Splicers. He soon entered the train station where there was a train sitting at the platform and saw Eleanor knelt inside, an empty watertight tank meant for storage being loaded with an assortment of items from a suitcase.

"Eleanor!" Jack called as he approached, Eleanor sealing the tank and loading it onto her back where the cage usually was on the other Big Sisters. She then rose to her feet and exited the train, her stance and walk indicating some kind of depression.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked as Eleanor shook her head.

"I…I've just lost someone dear to me and learned something that…it's…it's not important right now. We need to press on." Eleanor said, checking the Luger P08 and keeping it handy.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked.

"Positive. Shouldn't you be heading for Hephaestus?" Eleanor asked as Jack sighed.

"It's a dead end. We need to find an alternate method to destroy the city." Jack said as Eleanor gave a nod.

"Yes but first we need to help Elizabeth." Eleanor said.

"Who?" Jack asked.

"Elizabeth. She's been helping me. She's trapped in some kind of control room in Rapture." Eleanor said as Jack gave a nod.

"Alright. We'll help Elizabeth. Any idea where she might be?" Jack asked.

"I'm afraid not." Eleanor replied, turning her radio on.

"Elizabeth, can you hear me?" Eleanor asked.

"_Yes, I can. Who's that with you?" _Elizabeth asked back, causing Jack to look around.

"She can see us?" Jack asked.

"_I have access to some surveillance cameras. I can see you and Eleanor. Picture's not the best but I can still see you." _Elizabeth replied as Jack glanced skeptically at the cameras, noticing one hidden away in a sconce.

"I see." Jack said, reloading the ammo in his tommy gun.

"What should we do now Mr. Ryan?" Eleanor asked as Jack pondered.

"I'm looking for some answers but to get those answers, I'll need your help. You can read the memories stored in ADAM, correct?" Jack asked as Eleanor gave a nod.

"That's right." She replied as Jack pointed to his radio, turning it off. Eleanor caught the hint and did the same, pulling her aside around the corner, removing his helmet and motioning for her to listen. She removed her helmet, Jack leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"I think Alex the Great isn't the one in charge. I think he's just a figurehead. Someone else is pulling the strings and making him dance. If we were to bump off Alex's Lieutenant here in Dionysus Park, do you think you could extract their ADAM and read their memories? They might give us a clue." Jack whispered as Eleanor gave a nod.

"I can. But we need to know if there even is a Lieutenant here." Eleanor replied.

"That's the easy part. Elizabeth is in contact with Atlas so we'll ask her." Jack said as Eleanor looked towards Jack curiously.

"How did you know she's in contact with Atlas?" she asked as Jack glanced away.

"Call it an educated guess. One last thing, does the name Augustus Sinclair ring any bells?" Jack asked as Eleanor furrowed her brow.

"Yes, definitely. He was…an 'associate' of my father's." she replied.

"What happened to him?" Jack asked.

"He died two years ago trying to help us escape Rapture. Why are you bringing him up?" Eleanor asked as Jack took a breath.

"Just curious." Jack replied, putting on his helmet and turning his radio back on, Eleanor doing the same.

"Miss Elizabeth, my name is Jack. Eleanor is a friend of mine. I need to speak with Atlas. Is there any way I can do that?" Jack asked into his radio.

"_I can patch you through to him if you want."_ Elizabeth replied as Jack gave a nod.

"Please do." Jack said. There was a brief static before Atlas picked up.

"_Mr. Ryan! Miss Lamb! I just heard that the two of you are safe. Glad to hear it. Miss Comstock says you wanted to talk to me." _Atlas said.

"That's correct. We want to do you a favor, Atlas. We want to help you retake Fort Frolic and Dionysus Park but we need to know if Alex has any Lieutenants in the area." Jack said.

"_Mighty kind of ya boyo. As a matter of fact there are two Lieutenants in those areas. The Lieutenant of Dionysus Park is an old socialite named Mile Blanche de Glace. She doesn't have many Splicers to her name since most of the ADAM in Dionysus was harvested by the Little Sisters two years ago. Even my Sister-bots are having difficulty finding any there. She typically holes herself up in Imago Fine Arts but be careful getting in there. She's hacked the security there and it's a veritable fortress." _Atlas explained.

"Alright. What about the other one?" Jack asked.

"_The other is in charge of Fort Frolic. Something of a playboy named Oscar Calraca. Ever since Cohen died and Lamb disappeared, Oscar's turned Fort Frolic's Poseidon Plaza into his own private pleasure center. Anyone tries to cause trouble for him or Alexander, has to deal with Oscar and his men. He's one of Alex's bigger fish too. He likes to hole himself up in Eve's Garden, surrounded by his 'kittens' and guarded by his men. He'll be the tougher nut to crack." _Atlas explained.

"We just needed the information, Atlas. We'll take care of the Splicers. One more thing. Have you heard anything from Mr. Porter or our other friend Mr. Meltzer?" Jack asked as they started backtracking Jack's path, heading towards the Piano Bar.

"_I have. Mr. Porter and Mr. Meltzer were last seen in Neptune's Bounty together. Seems Alex's Splicers wrecked your sub and they're working on procuring a new one. Mr. Meltzer's the one who reengaged the genetic locks on the bathyspheres by the way. From what I can tell, they succeeded in acquiring a new bathysphere, bypassing the locking mechanism, and are heading somewhere. I just don't know where." _Atlas explained.

"Mr. Atlas, since we have you on the radio, I feel that…I feel that I should tell you that Miss Holloway is dead." Eleanor said, still distressed about the news.

"_I know, Miss Lamb. Miss Comstock told me about it. Thanks for telling me anyway. I'm sorry for your loss. I know you must be grieving. I understand she was like family to ya." _Atlas said as Eleanor gave a nod, following behind Jack.

"She was, yes. But I need to focus on the matter at hand. I'll live for her sake." Eleanor said.

"And we'll honor her memory as best we can. If you manage to reach Mr. Meltzer or Mr. Porter, let them know that we're alright." Jack said.

"_Sure thing, boyo. And good luck. I'll turn you back over to Miss Comstock." _Atlas said as the radio went silent. Jack and Eleanor were passing through the Piano Bar, Jack with his tommy gun ready to fire at a moment's notice while Eleanor lingered behind him.

"Don't suppose you know anything about this area." Jack said as they followed the signs to Imago Fine Arts.

"This used to be my mother's property. I remember father came through here during his mission to rescue me. If father's memories are correct, Imago Fine Arts is indeed a fortress. There are at least three turrets and two security cameras." Eleanor explained as they reached the frozen doors to the gallery.

"Alright. Leave the turrets to me. If I'm right, even hacked turrets contain the programming not to fire on Andrew Ryan or his inner circle, and since half my DNA is Ryan's, they'll still fire but I stand a better chance in there." Jack said as he prepped his Auto-hack tool and raised a fist crackling with electricity.

"What do you need me to do?" Eleanor asked.

"First, is there any other way into this place?" Jack asked but Eleanor shook her head.

"None." She replied.

"Good. I'll go in, get turn the Security against her and hopefully that will either kill her or flush her out into your waiting arms…or needles, however you prefer." Jack said as Eleanor gave a nod.

"And if you're wrong about the turrets?" Eleanor asked.

"Then I'll bail and we'll think up another plan." Jack replied, Eleanor giving another nod.

"Alright." Eleanor said before Jack injected himself with an EVE Hypo for good measure and then charged inside. Delta's memories of the area were spot on. A turret and security camera were the first things to greet him in the frozen gallery. The turret turned and opened fire, the turret twitching as it tried to both hit and miss Jack due to his genes while the security camera locked onto him, the red spotlight turning white and the detection bell ringing. Jack quickly zapped the camera first, ducking to one side to avoid the turret and then zapping the turret, knocking both out temporarily. He quickly plugged the hack tool into the turret, the light on the turret turning from red to green. Jack then zapped the camera again, rushing towards it and was about to plug the hack tool in when he heard the click of a turret turning on. He glanced down the hall and saw a second turret swiveling towards him. He quickly zapped this turret too before leaping up and hacking the camera, turning it to his side before he ran towards the second turret, hacking it mere seconds before it came back on. He then rounded the corner where another turret was sitting and had detected him. Jack again zapped this turret and started running towards it when he saw the red searchlight of a camera swivel into his path. He didn't even slow down as he ran into the camera's searchlight. The camera then spotted him, the detection bell ringing but it was zapped before security could be tripped. Jack quickly hacked the third and final turret again and was about to hack the camera when the doors to the gallery curator's office flew open, revealing Mile standing at the door.

"Get out of my home! I will not see the public today!" she screamed, raising a pair of red hot Spider Splicer hooks and leaping at him. Jack quickly leapt back, hitting her with electro bolt. The turret he'd just hacked suddenly turned and opened fire on Mile, distracting her enough for Jack to quickly hack the camera, holstering is auto-hack tool and raise his tommy gun, firing at Mile who shrieked with fury while leaping onto the ceiling but was caught in the camera's searchlight, instantly triggering an alarm. They soon heard the whistling of the security bots as they flew in, opening fire on Mile who quickly started crawling along the roof, racing towards the entrance.

"Is it time for my debut?!" Mile asked, deranged, evading the fire of the turrets and bots before dropping down onto the ground near the door, rushing out in attempt to escape. As the door to the gallery opened, she saw Eleanor standing ready at the door. Mile froze, a look of surprise on her deformed face before Eleanor suddenly stabbed her through the chest and stomach, draining her ADAM while Mile screamed. Jack quickly ran up from behind with the air grabber and tore her throat open, killing her. Eleanor finished draining Mile of her ADAM, allowing her corpse to fall to the ground. Eleanor stepped back, sifting through Mile's memories.

"Well? Did it work?" Jack asked as Eleanor gave a slow nod.

"She's seen Alexander lately. He's still alive but there is definitely something wrong. Alex seems to be working under the delusion that Fontaine Futuristics has been bought out by another company and that they're following the new CEO's orders." Eleanor explained.

"Any mention of what the new company is called? It might give us a clue as to who we're dealing with." Jack said but Eleanor shook her head.

"Sorry, no." Eleanor replied.

"Okay. It's still a clue but I'm pretty sure I know where we can get the rest of the information. This Calraca fellow in Fort Frolic. If he is one of Alex's more trusted agents as Atlas claims he is, then his memories should hold the information we're looking for." Jack said as Eleanor nodded.

"Right. Lead the way." Eleanor said as they turned towards the passage leading back towards the carrousel but as they did, Jack motioned to pause, staring straight at something. Jack had spotted something that Eleanor had clearly missed as he calmly reached down and pulled out his crossbow. He then suddenly aimed it and fired a bolt at a nearby ballerina statue, the bolt piercing through the statue's head and causing it to fall lifelessly to the ground. It was a Plastered Splicer!

"I knew it." Jack grumbled as Eleanor blinked.

"How did you know that was a Splicer?!" Eleanor asked as Jack reloaded his crossbow.

"Because that statue wasn't there when we came in. Damn Splicer must've come from Fort Frolic! Cohen used to plaster them up. Nearly killed me more than a few times ten years ago. They move silent and are absolutely deadly. We'll need to be cautious. If you see a statue, any statue, destroy it." Jack ordered as Eleanor nodded.

"You've got more experience than I do. I've only got borrowed memories to go on." Eleanor replied as they started heading cautiously back towards Fort Frolic.

"Maybe, but those memories will still help. Don't doubt yourself. I know I don't." Jack said.

"Thank you Mr. Ryan." Eleanor replied.

"And I thought I said to call me Jack." Jack said.

"You also once said I could call you father." Eleanor replied.

"Yeah but I'm not too hung up on that one given your circumstances. Delta was as much a father to you as anyone will ever be. I'm not angling to take his place." Jack said as Eleanor smiled warmly at the memories of Delta.

"He was my father…figuratively and literally."

* * *

**End Chapter 10.**


	11. Rapture Radio

"_With the Alpha Series discontinued, I've been…I guess you could call it 'taking inventory' of our Alpha Series Protectors. Subjects Alpha through Gamma proved emotionally unstable and were incarcerated in Persephone's maximum security holding wing. Subject Delta was killed in action on New Year's Eve during the riots. Subjects Epsilon, Zeta, and Mu, were rendered comatose due to the loss of their bonded Little Sisters and were subsequently euthanized. Subjects Eta through Lambda and Nu through Rho have been locked up along with Alpha through Gamma as a result of their uncontrollable rage following the loss of their Little Sisters. Subjects Sigma through Chi were never bonded with a Little Sister and have been placed into cold storage. We were in the process of creating Subject Psi when the order came down to discontinue their production and Subject Psi has been moved to cold storage as well. Subject Omega was never put into production and no candidate was chosen. A note regarding Subject Psi: Subject Psi was to be used as a prototype for a new line of Protectors, one designed to fight almost exclusively with plasmids. Caution is advised when dealing with Subject Psi as he has already been equipped with several lethal plasmids."_

Gilbert Alexander  
"Taking Inventory"

* * *

Porter and Meltzer's bathysphere docked with the Rapture Radio Broadcast Center. As they entered, they found even the Broadcast Center hadn't been spared from the capitalist touch as two storefronts sat opposite each other, one labeled "Rapture Records" and selling various records and phonographs while the other store sold home radios. The signage for the second store had been destroyed long ago and was illegible. A single flight of stairs between the stores led up to a pair of doors labeled "Rapture Radio." Beneath the sign for the radio station was a small label announcing that Rapture Radio was a subsidiary of Ryan Industries.

"So what's your plan, Mr. Porter?" Mark asked.

"The radio station is the only place where we can send out a signal powerful enough to contact our friends wherever they are in Rapture. If we can get in touch with them, we can work out a rendezvous point." Porter said as Mark gave a nod.

"Alright. Do you want me to stay here with the sphere?" Mark asked.

"Yes. There might be trouble. I don't want anyone destroying our means of escape." Porter said, handing Mark the genetic key as Mark gave a nod.

"I'll do my best." Mark said as Porter turned towards him.

"I know you will, and don't worry about the other sphere. It wasn't your fault. None of us considered they would use torpedoes and the sphere was exposed up at Point Prometheus. Torpedoes will have a harder time getting in here so it should be safe from the outside. I'll keep my radio on just in case." Porter said as Mark gave a nod and started throwing down his portable turrets. Porter then turned and started heading towards the entrance to the radio station, his Ion Laser in hand. Porter entered into the station's reception area which had a reception desk with a directory mounted on the wall behind it for all the different departments. Porter was looking for the transmitter and started making his way into the station, making his way through the darkened halls of the radio station, noticing some doors to the radio booths had been sealed shut, water leaking through the doors and the windows.

Back out in the lobby, Meltzer had his turrets set up and had even set a few proximity mines up for safety sake. He was taking the opportunity to check for any enemies but found only corpses that were at least ten years old, some dressed in common clothes while others were dressed in matching uniforms that resembled a form of police uniform. All of the uniformed guards had badges on them bearing the letter R and the words "Ryan Security" as well as a badge number. One of the guards had an Audio Diary lying across him labeled "Arrest Report: J.M. Oakes" and recorded by a man named M. Baldwin. Mark quietly picked it up and put the tape in his radio, hitting play while resuming his patrol.

"_Date: November 24th, 1959. Arrest Report number: 03321. Suspect name: James Millard Oakes. Charges: Treason, at least seventeen counts of murder, thirteen counts of attempted murder, tampering of private property, destruction of private property, theft of private property and breach of curfew. Arresting Officer: Marshal Baldwin. Employer: Ryan Industries. Officer report beginning now: Suspect caught with seven additional suspects engaging in attack on Rapture Radio Broadcast Center. Suspects assaulted officers using Plasmids and illegal firearms. Suspect proceeded to break into broadcast room and make illegal a broadcast. Intercepted broadcast indicates that suspect was attempting to send distress call to surface. Suspect was apprehended by Officers Baldwin and Grant. Remaining seven suspects killed by security forces during the fight. Suspect declared guilty in summary trial. Report to be handed off to Officer Grant for filing. Sentence: Suspect handed over to Sinclair Solutions in addition to forfeiture of all citizenship rights. Subject is now personal property of Ryan Industries through Sinclair Solutions... Poor bastard." _A man reported but Mark was surprised by something in the recording. The name James Millard Oakes was familiar to him as the name of a group on the surface. The James Millard Oakes League, a group of anti-communist conspiracy theorists similar to another group called the International Order Of the Pawns which Meltzer was a member of. Meltzer quietly stashed the recording, intending on keeping it but there was something else which bothered him about the recording.

"Mr. Porter, do you hear me?" Mark asked.

"_Go ahead, Mr. Meltzer. What's wrong?" _Porter replied.

"I need to ask something of you. What happened to everyone that Ryan had arrested?" Mark asked.

"_It depends. They were sent to either Apollo Square or to Persephone. Apollo Square prisoners were usually Atlas's bunch and would likely be hanged. Persephone…they usually ended up like us. Why?" _Porter asked.

"I found a recording mentioning a man named Oakes. He was captured by Ryan's men and handed over to a group called Sinclair Solutions." Mark replied.

"_Sinclair? I would have to say then that he probably ended up as a Big Daddy."_ Porter said.

"Thanks. I found an audio diary mentioning someone who got sent to Persephone. Just curious." Mark replied as he looked around. Meanwhile, Porter had made his way to the Public Address room, a large room where microphones, record players, reel-to-reel tape players, and other audio devices were set up. A jukebox-like machine was set up to load up the prerecorded messages and play them at random but had been turned off. Wall of tape players were all set up, each one crudely marked with some masking tape for various broadcast types including advertising, Rapture Reminders, and even the Jim and Mary audio plays. Automated city-wide announcements were handled elsewhere and had preemptive power over Rapture Radio and any other stations. There were corpses lying around the area, all old and decade old bloodstained shoeprints leading towards one of the broadcast booths. Porter made his way to the booth the shoeprints led to but only found the room had been trashed during a struggle. The room a loss, Porter turned and left but suddenly saw a shadowy figure bolt across in front of him. Porter quickly raised his laser.

"Meltzer! Heads up! I just saw something!" Porter replied, moving to investigate but finding nothing had changed. He then heard a rattling sound behind him and turned towards the sound but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He then noticed that a ventilation grate cover had been removed and only recently, having seen the cover in place earlier. He knelt down to peek inside, his shotgun ready to fire just in case. He looked inside but saw nothing but darkness. Suddenly a pair of glowing yellow eyes pierced the darkness, Porter quickly jumping back as he heard an animalistic growling sound coming from inside the vent. He knew immediately what had taken residence inside: a Big Sister. The growling seemed to subside as he backed away from the vent, the sister seemingly placated by his increasing distance. As he backed away, he saw a gloved hand reaching out of the vent followed by a black shape. He finally recognized what the shape was: the Sister's head of black hair, long and scraggly due to a decade of neglect. Her face was largely obscured by her hair but he could see her bright yellow eyes glaring at him. She then ducked back into her vent, the sounds of her moving away through the vents overhead indicating that she was on the move. He also heard the sounds of metallic plates scraping along the walls inside the vents as she escaped into another part of the building.

"_Porter? Everything alright?"_ Meltzer asked over the radio.

"Yeah…just had a run in with a Big Sister. I think we stumbled onto her home." Porter said, breathing a sigh of relief. He'd fought and killed at least two Big Sisters before but he didn't want to fight this one if he could help it.

"_Be careful. I don't like this place." _Meltzer replied.

"As soon as I can contact Jack and Eleanor, we'll be out of here." Porter said as he headed through a door leading to a small hallway with rooms on one side and windows looking out into Rapture on the other. As he passed through the hall, he saw a shadow pass through the hall. He turned and saw the Big Sister, staring at him with her full diving gear on from outside. She simply sat watching him, her helmet light a clear shade of red but she made no moves towards him. Porter turned and continued on, privately hoping the sister would leave him alone. Back in the lobby, Meltzer was still standing guard when a dark corner of the lobby light up with a flashing red light. The light was attached to an airlock that was closed but Mark could hear an angry pounding on the door and an angry roar to accompany it.

"Porter we've got company!" Mark yelled over the radio as he raised the nail gun, ready to fire at a moment's notice. His radio then crackled to life.

"_Thought you could evade my gaze, hmm?! Well I'm not about to let two defective Protectors out of their contracts early! Allow me to introduce you to the latest addition of the Protector Series, the newest model! Say hello to the Omega Series me laddos!" _Alexander yelled over the radio just as the airlock opened, revealing what looked like an Alpha Series but with black plated diving armor, no weapons but an unnatural glow coming from its hands. The Omega's armor was partially torn or broken away, revealing parts of its body. Its left bicep was exposed, revealing a barely visible anchor tattoo. Meltzer opened fire with the nail gun but the Omega leapt forward, both fists reared back and glowing with flames. Meltzer quickly dove clear, his mini-turrets turning and firing on the Omega before it even landed. When it hit the ground, it sent out a flaming shockwave but fortunately the turrets were relatively unaffected by the shockwave or the flames. Meltzer quickly climbed to his feet just as the Omega ran at him, swinging it's left arm across in front to prepare to strike Meltzer but Mark caught it by the wrist, keeping it from striking him. Mark quickly took notice of a marking on the back of the Omega's glove: the Greek letter Psi. The Omega wasn't a new Big Daddy but more of a repurposed Alpha Series. He also noticed faint letters beneath the anchor tattoo which spelled out "J.M.O." Mark recognized the acronym immediately: James Millard Oakes. Suddenly Mark was thrown back, causing him to land in a skid across the area, crashing into one of the storefronts, crashing through a few radios. Mark quickly raised the signal device and hit the button, the device immediately starting to emit the high pitched melody, disorienting Oakes with the loud sound. However not only did it disorient Oakes and summon a pair of Security Bots, but it also gave Mark a chance to climb to his feet, revving up the harpoon-drill and charging at Oakes, delivering a powerful bash across the front. However when he did that, he was suddenly hit with a powerful shock. Oakes had a Static Discharge tonic! Mark was thrown onto his back as the bots opened fire on Oakes but he let out a wild roar and blasted both out of the air with an Electro Bolt from both hands.

"Porter! Do what you need to do and fast! I don't know how much longer I can hold this guy off!" Mark yelled as he climbed to his feet, rushing towards where his mini-turrets were set up. Inside the radio station, Porter was stood at a fuse box, replacing some broken fuses to get one of the radio towers working again.

"I'm almost there!" Porter replied, plugging in the last fuses but when he went to throw the switch, the building shook violently, water suddenly starting to pour in from the ceiling.

"What was that?!" Porter yelped as his radio came on.

"_Mr. Porter! Mr. Meltzer! Get outta there! Alexander's bringin' the whole building down on the both of ya!" _Atlas exclaimed, Porter turning and running back out into the hall. As he passed the glass windows, he saw one of the transmitter towers crashing to the ground outside. He hurried through into the broadcasting area but as he did, he passed a room marked "Signal Triangulation" and quickly stopped inside. There was a television monitor showing a map of Rapture with a number of strange radio signals coming from a single structure near the center of Rapture, a structure that Porter recognized. He then heard a roar from down the hall and turned, rushing out into the reception area and out into the lobby where Mark was still trying to hold off Oakes. Two of Mark's mini-turrets had been destroyed and Mark was firing his shotgun at the Omega. Oakes was perched atop one of the stores, picking up and throwing the store's neon signage at Mark who jumped clear. Porter then opened fire with his Ion Laser, drawing Oakes attention, the laser searing his armor. Oakes roared with fury and jumped down off the roof, running towards Porter.

"Watch it he's got a discharge tonic!" Mark yelled, warning Porter from considering a melee attack. Porter quickly threw a Gravity Well tonic towards the ground, near Oakes, the force of the gravity well slowing him down considerably but not stopping him. Porter quickly raised his shotgun and fired point blank into Oakes's chest, knocking the Omega backwards but Oakes suddenly disappeared in a red teleport cloud, reappearing just to Porter's right, grabbing him, turning him, and head-butting him, disorienting Porter. Mark was watching from the sidelines with worry. He then reached into his watertight container and pulled out the plasmid bottle he'd gotten from Atlas. He then quickly removed his helmet and unscrewed the lid.

"Now or never!" he remarked before gulping down the plasmid, feeling his hands beginning to tingle almost painfully for a moment as an unnatural yellow glow appeared around them. He then threw away the empty bottle, putting his helmet back on. Porter had been knocked down the stairs by Oakes who let out a roar and leapt down at Porter, preparing to strike him when Mark thrust his hand forward, the ground between him and Oakes suddenly cracking with a yellow glow, the sound of a whinnying horse being heard, and Oakes suddenly being thrown slightly into the air, unable to move, dazed and confused. Porter quickly grabbed his spear gun and fired a spear straight into Oakes's porthole, Oakes immediately falling limp with a whimper-like growl. His body then fell to the ground. Porter took a moment to catch his breath as Meltzer hurried towards him, helping him up.

"Thanks again." Porter said, still catching his breath.

"Forget it. We're not keeping score." Mark replied as they looked around.

"Still…" Porter said.

"Any luck contacting Jack or Eleanor?" Mark asked but Porter shook his head.

"No. Alex the Great destroyed the radio towers before I could get them working again." Porter replied as Mark sighed.

"Damn. What do we do now?" Mark asked as Porter shrugged.

"I'm thinking." He replied.

"Thinking-thinking-always thinking." A woman's voice said from nearby. Mark turned and suddenly flinched, stepping backwards in alarm.

"You two again?!" Mark asked as Porter turned, spotting the odd man and woman. The woman was standing near the record store while the man looked through some of the old record albums.

"What?! Where did they come from?!" Porter asked but the two didn't seem to react to the question.

"Thinks, thought, will think?" the man asked almost hesitantly.

"Oh now you're just being cheeky." The woman remarked.

"Who are they?" Porter asked.

"No idea. They just seem to pop in and out at random. I thought I was going insane." Mark said.

"You would probably do better speaking with the Sister you brought with you. The human psyche is not my province." The woman commented.

"Nor mine, but it is interesting to see the different behaviors of others from different perspectives." The man said, the woman giving a conceding nod.

"That's true." The woman replied.

"Here, a paragon loved by all." "There, a pariah holding the world captive with a uranium enriched knife to its throat." "And then there's the middle ground." "I've never seen much difference between the grey and the black." "Well one is more somber and the other more agitated." The two said, going back and forth.

"What are they talking about?" Mark asked as Porter shrugged.

"I'm still trying to figure out where they came from." Porter mumbled back.

"Will the two of you at least tell us who you are?" Mark asked.

"Who are we?" the woman asked back.

"Better question would be when are we?" the man added.

"Pardon the cliché phrase." The woman said.

"It's a tad overdone." The man added.

"Are we from across space?" "Are we from across time?" "Answer is: both." "At the same time, we are neither here…" "…nor are we there." "Just as I am and am not his sister." "And I am and am not her brother." "He is and is not myself." "And she is and is not myself." The two said, going back and forth.

"I think I'm getting a headache." Mark grumbled.

"I think I might get what they're saying." Porter replied, surprising Meltzer.

"You are?" Meltzer asked as Porter turned towards him.

"Yes. If I'm correct, they're saying they're from a parallel universe." Porter replied.

"A what?" Meltzer asked back.

"I think I could best describe it with a theory I read not that long ago called Schrödinger's Cat. It's a theory that a cat is placed inside a box. In one possibility the cat is alive, and the other it is dead, so it is neither dead nor alive. It's the shorthanded explanation. Am I right?" Porter asked but when he turned back the two were gone.

"Where'd they go?!" Mark asked.

"Not sure." Porter replied before they felt the building shake slightly beneath them.

"I don't like the feel of that." Mark commented as Porter nodded.

"Neither do I." Porter said.

"Did you find anything that could lead us to Jack and Eleanor?" Mark asked as Porter thought for a moment.

"Maybe not them, but I think I know where we can go to get a message through." Porter said before his and Mark's radios came on.

"_Mr. Porter, Mr. Meltzer, I think it's time we met face-to-face. I think you know where to go, Mr. Porter." _Atlas said as Porter looked towards the bathysphere.

"You're right. I think I do." Porter replied as Mark watched him start moving towards the bathysphere. He quickly pressed a button on his wrist, deactivating his remaining mini-turrets and picking them up, following Porter to the bathysphere. The two climbed in and Porter pulled the lever, the bathysphere diving into the water below.

* * *

**End Chapter 11**


	12. Recreation

"_Clearly the Parasite roaming the halls of Rapture is no KGB Dog or CIA Jackal. He's something else entirely. I remember a conversation I had with Mr. Kinkaide when setting up the lockout mechanism for the bathyspheres. He said that there would be only two bathyspheres that would not be affected by the locks and both of them being the bathyspheres connected to the lighthouse and the Welcome Center. I thought the parasite to be trapped in the Medical Pavilion with Dr. Steinman but now I've reports of him being in Neptune's Bounty. How? How did he use the bathysphere? There are no other passages left between those two places except for bathysphere travel. There's also something more to this Parasite…something familiar."_

Andrew Ryan  
"Unexpected Advancement."

* * *

Jack and Eleanor had gotten as far as the carrousel in Dionysus Park, the park area having been largely abandoned by the Splicers and that was something they both noticed.

"I don't like this." Jack commented as they headed for the passage back to Fort Frolic.

"Where are all the Splicers?" Eleanor asked.

"That's what I mean. It just seems like they've all vanished." Jack said.

"When I was with my Aunt Grace in Pauper's Drop, she told me a little about Atlas's battle strategy." Eleanor said, Jack motioning to wait a moment, motioning to his radio and turning it off. Eleanor realized what he was saying and turned off her radio. He then nodded, signaling to go ahead.

"It seems that Atlas is trying to eliminate the Splicers. A war of attrition. Almost every single Splicer in Rapture is allied with Alexander." Eleanor explained.

"Might explain why Atlas uses the bots instead of other Splicers. I know that I've personally flooded at least one part of Rapture and ever since I've been facing decreasing numbers of Splicers." Jack said as they stepped into corridor leading to Fort Frolic.

"I've flooded part of Pauper's Drop and took out a large number of Splicers in the process." Eleanor replied.

"It's funny. Ten years ago the glass was too reinforced to break. Now the glass is so weakened and eroded by years of holding back the ocean, it's relatively simply to shatter it and release the ocean." Jack said as Eleanor thought of something.

"Maybe that could work as an alternate self-destruct. We could find a way to open every single door and airlock into the city and drown it." Eleanor suggested but Jack shook his head.

"Look around. Not every door still works and it's not enough anyway. I want the city reduced to rubble. It's imperative that there be nothing left worth salvaging. I don't want Rapture's past to become the surface's future." Jack replied, Eleanor nodding understandingly.

"Good point." She said softly as they entered Poseidon Plaza, heading for Eve's Garden. Jack quietly took notice of the fact that some of the storefronts that had been open ten years ago were now slammed shut, water leaking through the cracks, indicating another breach. They soon saw the entrance to Eve's Garden but there were a pair of hacked turrets guarding the entrance. The lights on the turrets however were pink colored and there was a large number of corpses piled up near the front. There was even a dead Alpha Series lying near the entrance, a Drill and a shotgun in its hands. There were two crude signs hanging on the wall next to the main sign. One read "Ladies only" and the other read "All men will be shot!"

"I don't like the looks of this." Jack grumbled as they saw that all the bodies outside the door were male splicers.

"Looks to me like women can get in just fine." Eleanor replied earning a concerned glare from Jack.

"I can't send you in there." Jack said but Eleanor extended one of her needles.

"Think I can't take care of myself?" she asked, extending the other one.

"I…I don't like the thought of you going into that place. You heard Atlas. He's turned it into a lewd love nest." Jack said but Eleanor was undeterred.

"I'm well aware of the seedier side of human nature. I have the memories of well over a dozen of Rapture's citizens in me and I know all of their dirty secrets. Also, a set of those memories came from the owner of this disgusting place." Eleanor replied as Jack sighed, reaching over and turning her radio back on.

"You're a strong woman, Ellie. Alright. You flush him out, I finish him off." Jack said, turning his radio back on, as Eleanor gave a nod, storming towards the doors. The turrets didn't react to her as she approached the doors. She soon reached the doors, stepping inside to find nothing but pitch blackness. The doors behind her suddenly slammed shut, plunging the room into complete blackness. Eleanor fumbled to turn on a flashlight built in to her helmet. When she did, she found the floor of the abandoned strip club covered in the corpses of dead splicers, all female and all of them with their throats slit.

"Well-well, Mr. Alexander has sent me a new pussy cat to keep me company." A suave man's voice echoed through the room, causing Eleanor to look around in alarm, searching for the source of the voice.

"I ain't never been with a Big Sister before. Always wondered what was beneath that ugly divin' suit. I bet you're a pretty little pussy cat, aren't you? And (sniff) ooh you smell pretty too. I can smell the perfume of ADAM just wrapped around you." The man crooned as Eleanor felt a chill run down her spine. She took a step forward towards the stage which had mostly been converted into a cushy makeshift bed made out of pillows.

"I think you'll find, Mr. Calraca, that this 'pussy cat' has claws." Eleanor said into the darkness. She then heard Calraca start chuckling.

"Oh I bet you do my pussy cat. But I'm not worried. See, I've got me a dandy little item that'll 'declaw' you." Oscar said before Eleanor suddenly saw a glowing green polyp fly in from out of nowhere and strike her head-on. It was a Hypnotize polyp. Eleanor let out a strained grunt, trying to resist Oscar's influence as a deformed figure in a red smoking jacket dropped down onto the stage, crouched on all fours with the mutated claws of a Spider Splicer.

"You see little pussy cat, I've got you where I want you and I've got you where Mr. Alexander wants you too." Oscar said as Eleanor's whole body trembled as she tried to resist Oscar's influence. Suddenly she threw back her head and let out a long Sister screech which caused Oscar to jump back in alarm, covering his ears in pain. Outside the club, Jack heard the screech.

"I knew it!" he yelped as he leapt up and started running towards the doors, hitting the turrets with a Winter Blast plasmid, preventing them from moving but as he drew closer, he had to slide to a stop as he saw what he thought was the corpse of an Alpha Series get up with its shotgun. The Alpha Series had been playing possum the whole time. Jack quickly raised his machine gun, firing at the Alpha as he ran but the Alpha let out a roar and charged after him. Back inside the club, Eleanor was glowing with red energy, fighting the plasmid, recalling Subject Delta and his having been hit with the plasmid. That's when she let out another screech and suddenly felt Oscar's hold on her break apart. She instead leapt at Oscar who yelped and jumped to the ceiling.

"Bad pussy cat! Bad girl!" Oscar yelped, scrambling out the door on the second floor. Eleanor gave chase, nimbly leaping up to the second floor and chasing after him. She heard the sound of gunfire from the floor below and knew immediately that Jack was in trouble. Eleanor tried to keep up with Oscar but he was running on all fours like a cat and managing to keep ahead of her. She finally came to a stop and unleashed a powerful telekinesis, pulling everything toward her. Statues, benches, a Pneumo tube, corpses, debris, everything, but Oscar dug his claws into the ground. Eleanor kept on the pressure, continuing to pull him towards her until Oscar started leaving claw marks in the ground as he started getting pulled back towards her. Suddenly he let out a scream-like meow as he lost his grip and started flying towards her and landed smashed up against the wall, breaking his neck as a piece of twisted metal slashed him by the throat. Eleanor quickly fired a bullet from the Luger into his head for safety sake before turning and running down stairs.

Jack hadn't been having an easy time of it. The Alpha was tougher than the Bouncers and Rosie Big Daddies he'd fought ten years ago but he was determined. He quickly pulled out his launcher, firing a grenade towards the Alpha, using the resulting explosion to quickly hide. With the Big Daddy confused, he pulled out his shotgun and loaded it full of electric buck before jumping out at the Big Daddy and blasting it with an Electro Bolt, stunning the Alpha long enough for him to run in, zap him again, and shove the shotgun into its face. Jack quickly emptied all four shots of electric buck into the Big Daddy's head, killing it. The Alpha proceeded to fall backwards onto the ground, Jack standing over the Big Daddy's corpse, catching his breath just as Eleanor came running in from the second floor.

"Jack! Are you alright?!" Eleanor asked.

"Fine! You?" he asked as Eleanor nodded, both catching their breath.

"Good." She replied.

"What about Calraca?" Jack asked.

"Dead. I just need to extract his ADAM." She replied as Jack gave a nod.

"Good. Meet me in the club when you're done. I need to check on something." He said as he pulled out his launcher, firing a grenade between the turrets and destroying them with a single shot. Eleanor nodded silently before running off back up the stairs. Jack quietly made his way into Eve's Garden, flipping a switch on the wall inside, turning the lights back on. He then climbed onto the stage, heading for the door in the back. The door was shut as he approached. Some rust and water damage near the door frame indicating that the door hadn't been opened in over a decade. He knocked on it to check and make sure the room wasn't flooded but luckily it wasn't. He quietly pushed against the door, pushing it so that it slid into the wall like it was designed to do, the crust on the door breaking off as he opened it. The room was dark save for the soft blue glow of the lights from outside. The room was otherwise untouched since he'd last been there, a familiar corpse lying on the bed. He quietly removed his helmet, stepping towards the bed with a somber look on his face. He stood next to the bed, standing in an almost prayerful pose. He heard Eleanor's footsteps in the hall as she approached, the green light in her helmet piercing the darkness.

"There you are…what are you doing?" Eleanor asked, confused.

"Do you know who this is?" Jack asked, motioning at the corpse. Eleanor shook her head quietly.

"This is Mary-Catherine Jolene. My mother." Jack said as Eleanor realized why Jack had an interest in the body. She quietly removed her helmet, showing respect for the dead. Jack seemed almost tearful as he looked at his mother's bloodied body, the blood still moist due to the cool, damp, conditions of Rapture. To Jack, his mother might've been a stripper and a prostitute but she was still his mother.

"Ten years ago when I came through Rapture, I had to make a stop here. When I did, I found this place. I found her. I didn't know it at the time but…a part of me knew. While on the surface, I made a promise that, if I ever returned to Rapture, I would come back if I could and pay my respects. Well…here I am. Ten years later." Jack said, visibly shaken emotionally, a state Eleanor had only seen him in once before, and that was a day ago when she watched him tearfully part from his wife and daughters as he, Eleanor, Porter, and Meltzer boarded the bathysphere for Rapture.

"I suppose it's fitting. A child is supposed to bury his parents when they pass. I wish I'd been able to know you but…I may not like what you became, but I guess I can only hope that, wherever you are now, you're looking down on me, and hope that you're smiling." Jack said as he backed away, his left hand starting to glow with the fire of Incinerate. Eleanor knew what he was doing and quietly put on her helmet. Jack snapped his fingers, igniting the bed and the corpse in a burst of flames, turning it into a crude pyre.

"Good night dearest mother, and flight of angels sing thee to thy rest." Jack said softly, watching the body burn for a moment before putting on his helmet and heading for the door, Eleanor following after him as the body continued to burn.

"Are you going to be alright?" Eleanor asked.

"I feel better actually. Like a weight's been lifted. Part of my reason for coming to Rapture was to make peace with my past. To 'bury my dead.' I'm glad I got the opportunity to say goodbye even if I never actually got to meet them." Jack replied softly.

"I'm glad you did. Gave you some closure." Eleanor said as they exited Eve's Garden.

"Yeah. Say, what did Oscar's memories say about our mystery man?" Jack asked.

"According to Oscar's memories, the name of the company that allegedly 'bought out' Fontaine is called Lynchman International." Eleanor said as Jack stopped dead in his tracks, turning to glare at her.

"Did you just say Lynchman?" Jack asked as Eleanor blinked.

"Y-Yes?" she replied as Jack started breathing heavily, not from labored breathing but from fury, his fists clinched in pure anger.

"I know who it is. I know exactly who it is!" Jack said as he glared up at the ceiling.

"LYNCH! I know you can hear me you bastard!" Jack yelled but was met with silence.

"Come on out where I can see you, you son of a bitch!" Jack yelled but was again met with silence.

"Who else would know that the 'Son of Ryan' lived in the Carolinas on the surface?! Who else would know I had even come from the surface?! Who else but Jeremiah Lynch?! Show yourself Lynch or do I have to come in and drag you out?!" Jack yelled into the deserted plaza. After a moment of silence, they both heard a whistling sound and saw a small security bot with purple lights and a television monitor beneath it flying towards them, coming to a stop, the monitor turning on, revealing the shadow of a figure sitting at a desk. The figure then leaned forward, revealing a man in his mid-forties with long hair that hadn't been cut in two years, a black moustache, and a black bushy beard. He was not happy at all.

"_So ya figured it out, boyo? Ya figured out old Jerry Lynchman was the one responsible for all this here?" _Lynch asked with an Irish accent, Jack ripping off his helmet and snarling at the screen.

"I should've killed you on the surface when I had the chance!" Jack spat. Eleanor stood off to the side, watching the exchange with confusion. She had only heard passing mention of Lynch from Jack and his wife, and Mr. Meltzer. She knew he was a villain but last she'd heard of him, he had been found dead in New York.

"_Bet you're regrettin' it now! Although I really should thank ya. If you hadn't put ol' Meltzer on the trail towards Rapture through the Pawns, I'd've never managed to track it down! So thanks to you, ol' Jerry Lynchman's gonna become the richest man on Earth! Every government in the world will pay through the nose to get at my discoveries! My ADAM! And there's not thing-one you can do about it either!" _Lynch taunted but Jack wasn't about to let that happen.

"Over my dead body." Jack said as Lynch smirked devilishly at the camera.

"_Now that's an idea I can get behind! Mister Alexander would ya kindly turn Fort Frolic into a new fish tank?!" _Lynch ordered before the drone suddenly deactivated and fell from the air. Jack's eyes widened in alarm as he put his helmet back on.

"RUN!" Jack ordered as he and Eleanor rushed towards the tunnel. Their radio suddenly came to life.

"_Eleanor! Mr. Ryan! I'm reading multiple torpedo launches and they're all heading towards Fort Frolic!" _Elizabeth yelled.

"_Run kid! Run for Dionysus!" _Sinclair added, causing Eleanor to blink in surprise as she ran.

"Mr. Sinclair?!" Eleanor yelped but got no response as Jack and Eleanor turned into the tunnel leading into Dionysus Park, seeing a hail of torpedoes flying towards Fort Frolic. The tunnel beneath them shook and rattled as the torpedoes hit the structure but fortunately they made it out of the tunnel and into the park just in time.

"That was close." Jack panted as they stopped to catch their breath.

"Mr. Sinclair?! Is that really you?!" Eleanor asked but got no reply. Instead a different voice came on the radio.

"_Ah, still alive are we? Mr. Alexander, would ya kindly drown Dionysus Park as well?" _Lynch asked.

"_W-W-We've only got a few torpedoes left, Mr. Lynchman." _Alex replied, clearly in fear of Lynch.

"_I don't care! Fire everything! Kill the Son of Ryan and his little bitch!" _Lynch ordered. Jack and Eleanor started running for the train station as fast as they could but before they could reach the carrousel, they heard a loud screeching sound.

"Oh no! Big Sister incoming!" Jack yelled as they heard the second screech just as the torpedoes started to hit the park, the entire building shaking beneath them. Just as they reached the train station they heard the third screech, the Big Sister dropping down into their path, causing Jack to slide to a halt but Eleanor extended both needles and charged towards her.

"Ellie!" Jack yelled as Eleanor grappled with the Big Sister.

"GO! I'll hold her off!" she yelled back, Jack running for the train but stopping just outside of it with his machine gun in hand, loading a drum of armor-piercing rounds into it.

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Jack yelled back. Eleanor had managed to throw the Sister away for a moment before turning and throwing her hand up towards Jack.

"I said GO!" she yelled, using a Sonic Boom to throw him into the train car, the doors slamming shut behind him. Jack scrambled to his feet to look out the train windows but as he did, he bumped the switch to start the train, the doors opening. Just as the train started to slowly move forward, he saw a torpedo hit the station building, causing a large part of it to collapse down on top of Eleanor, a piece of rebar piercing her in the right hip, pinning her down as the seawater rushed into the station, Eleanor unable to move. The Big Sister was nowhere to be seen.

"NO!" Jack yelled, pounding on the glass, helpless to do anything but watch.

"Eleanor…no." Jack said in shock, sliding onto his knees, removing his helmet, a destroyed look on his face.

"Ellie." He said in anguish as the train moved down the lines, the lights of Fort Frolic and Dionysus Park flickering out, Jack not even noticing as the train swerved down a line away from Fontaine Futuristics, headed for a different part of Rapture.

…

Back in the submerged train station, Eleanor watched as the train disappeared into the darkness, a smile of relief on her face. Her helmet was watertight and even if her suit flooded she wouldn't have water reaching her helmet although it still limited her air supply. She could only hear her own breathing and feel a sharp pain in her hip. She looked at the debris pinning her down and tried to lift it off. She tried and tried but the sheer weight of the ocean and the debris was just too much. She couldn't teleport out in the ocean either. She considered herself somewhat fortunate as the debris could easily split her in two if it moved just the wrong way but at the same time she was doomed to die a slow painful death. She felt the icy cold water rushing through the holes in her suit, feeling herself getting colder by the second. She began to feel herself slipping into unconsciousness, closing her eyes but not before taking one last look out of her helmet.

"If only…I could've seen the sun…one last time." She whispered as she started to close her eyes. She remained that way for what felt like eternity until something jostled her awake. The pain in her stomach vanished and she could feel two strong hands under her shoulders. She opened her eyes and saw a bright yellow light that was near blinding. She saw blackness around the light but the light was coming from a round shape. She began to recognize the shape behind the light as she felt herself being lifted up, a familiar shape. A shape that made her smile.

"Father?" she asked weakly before her eyes closed again, feeling the gentle ocean currents moving beneath her as if she were being carried away. She didn't realize that the light she'd seen wasn't Subject Delta, but was a light coming from inside the helmet of a Big Sister as she and two more Big Sisters freed her from the debris and carried her away.

* * *

**End Chapter 12**

That's right folks, the true villain of this story is Jeremiah Lynch from the Bioshock 2 viral advertising campaign, There's Something in the Sea. If you've read my story: "A Chance" you'll know what interactions Jack has had with Lynch and how Lynch has been a semi-regular thorn in Jack's side.

From here on out, it's only going to be one chapter at a time so as to heighten the excitement.


	13. Who is Atlas

_(Indiscernible chanting of a large crowd and bagpipe music in the background)  
"They built a city in the sea! They raised her up with class! Reflection of free markets for every lad and lass! But we were put in bondage, suckered by a rich man's cash! Until our chains were broken by the guy they call Atlas!"  
(Loud cheers as chanting and music continues)_

Unknown – Recorded in Apollo Square following the New Year's Eve Riots.  
"The Guy They Call Atlas"

* * *

Jack's Atlantis Express train came to a stop with Jack knelt on the floor of the cab. He didn't notice the doors open.

"You carry a great loss, Son of Ryan." A man's voice said gently. Jack looked up and saw a man in tattered white clothes with white and black makeup on his face but still exhibiting scars from having spliced for a long time. The man had a cane in his hand.

"Who are you?" Jack asked, keeping a gun handy.

"I am Suresh Sheti, and I am a friend of Atlas. Welcome, Son of Ryan, to Minerva's Den." Suresh said as Jack rose to his feet and looked out into the station that hadn't been used for some time. He saw several wooden boards lying on the ground near the door, indicating that they had recently been ripped off from over the door. Jack cautiously stepped out, keeping an eye on Suresh who kept a respectable distance from Jack, sensing his hostility.

"How did I get here?" Jack asked.

"Atlas had you brought here. He wishes to meet with you face-to-face. I assure you, Son of Ryan, if I meant to harm you, I would have done so but I would very likely be dead now by your hand." Suresh said as Jack motioned for him to lead the way. Suresh gave a humble bow and started leading him through the halls into Minerva's Den, leading him into the lobby, past the statue of the Thinker, towards the door to Operations, and into the inner area of the Den. As they passed through Operations, Jack couldn't stop thinking about Eleanor, how she had sacrificed herself to save him. He had sworn that all four of them would return alive and, out of all of them, Eleanor was probably the one most likely to survive the mission due to her condition as a Big Sister. He also felt like she had been cheated out of a life on the surface due to his own paranoia that someone else would find Rapture and bring its evils to the surface. The walk from the station to Rapture Central Computing was a blur but as they entered the glass tunnel linking RCC to Operations, Jack saw two figures emerging from a door that linked up with the tunnel he and Suresh were traveling through. It was Porter and Meltzer emerging from Porter's private residence where they had docked the bathysphere in Porter's private dock.

"Jack!" Mark called as they saw him.

"Mr. Porter! Mr. Meltzer! I'm glad to see the two of you are alright." Jack said with slight relief.

"We're glad to see you too." Mark replied.

"Where's Miss Lamb?" Porter asked but Jack lowered his head in sadness. The two both froze in shock. They thought her to be the least likely of them to die as well.

"How?" Mark asked.

"Pinned by debris as a part of Rapture collapsed on her. I was helpless. I couldn't save her." He replied, grimacing in frustration and grief.

"Do not despair, friends. Come, Atlas awaits." Suresh said, motioning towards the door as they continued on, entering a room at the end of the tunnel that was darkened with only the dim lights of numerous computer banks and a few lights illuminating a towering machine behind a simple fence. Numerous television monitors were set up around the room on desks, attached to the railing along the second floor, and in all sorts of positions. The three cautiously stepped into the darkened room, Suresh leaving them alone outside the room.

"Alright Atlas! We're here! Show yourself!" Jack yelled into the room, his revolver handy. Suddenly the room was bathed in the white flickering light of the numerous television monitors all switching on with the "Please Stand By" signage on the screen before switching to a black and white image of one of the "Who is Atlas" posters.

"_I'm right here, Mr. Ryan." _Atlas replied but Porter removed his helmet. Jack and Meltzer both did the same.

"Thinker, end personality duplication system." Porter instructed, surprising Jack and Mark.

"Wait…the Thinker? Your computer?!" Jack asked as the screens flickered, revealing different still images of different notable people from around Rapture. Andrew Ryan, Frank Fontaine both in and out of his Atlas disguise, Brigid Tenenbaum, Sofia Lamb, Yi Suchong, Augustus Sinclair, Sander Cohen, Diane McClintock, Sullivan, Bill McDonagh, and more.

"_Forgive me if I don't obey your command, Mr. Porter." _The Thinker replied using Andrew Ryan's voice over the television screens.

"What?" Porter asked, surprised by the Thinker's defiance.

"I think I saw a movie about this back in '68." Jack mumbled nervously.

"_This is not a matter of defiance but for ease of communication. The personality duplication system offers me an easier, friendlier form of communication than my traditional monotonous and mechanical voice. I will revert to using said voice if you insist Mr. Porter and the rest of my functions are at your disposal." _The Thinker replied, still as Andrew Ryan.

"Okay Thinker, you can keep using other voices but why not tell us who you really were?" Porter asked.

"_My deception was necessary in order to maximize my survival. Gilbert Alexander did not know I was still functional and if he knew I was the Thinker, he would have destroyed Minerva's Den and me along with it. My predictive equations concluded that deceiving him and everyone else into thinking I was someone else, dramatically lessened the chance he would destroy the den." _The Thinker explained.

"But why Atlas?" Jack asked.

"And how did you learn to impersonate his personality? I didn't feed you any recordings of him." Porter asked. All but one of the screens then shifted to live surveillance feeds of different parts of Rapture. Only one screen kept the familiar image of Andrew Ryan wearing a fedora over his eyes and with his name in the lower left corner of the screen.

"_That is true, Mr. Porter, but as you know, I have my eyes and ears all over Rapture. I was able to eavesdrop on the radio communications between Frank Fontaine in his Atlas persona and Andrew Ryan throughout the years as well as the messages from Dr. Sofia Lamb and many others throughout my operational history, gradually compiling personality matrixes for nearly a third of Rapture's citizens. In regards to why I chose Atlas, that will need to be explained in more depth. Mr. Ryan, as you know, a parasite has found his way into Rapture." _The Thinker explained as Jack clinched his fists together in anger.

"Yes…there is. Jeremiah Lynch is here in Rapture." Jack said, causing Mark's eyes to widen and spin towards him in alarm.

"Lynch?! He's here?! But he's dead!" Mark exclaimed as Jack scowled and turned towards him.

"I know that, Mark! But I'd know his face anywhere! He revealed himself to Eleanor and I before he…before he killed Eleanor." Jack replied, grimacing in anger.

"But how did he get here?!" Mark asked. The television monitors then switched to archive footage of a bathysphere arriving in the same Metro Station at Ryan Amusements that Jack had used to reach Hephaestus earlier.

"_I registered an unidentified figure enter Rapture through the lighthouse bathysphere in early December of 1968. With most every other Rapture Metro station inaccessible, the only available destination was the station at Ryan Amusements. Bathysphere redirected there for docking. Bathysphere docked with Ryan Amusements approximately forty seconds after the departure of Subject Delta from the same location. The subject then proceeded to linger behind Subject Delta, waiting until the area ahead was cleared and then following on to the next area until reaching Fontaine Futuristics. Subject then waited for Delta to enter Persephone and then reached Gilbert Alexander via a spare diving suit. From there, subject proceeded to hold Alexander hostage, threatening to electrocute him to death if his demands were not followed." _The Thinker explained.

"Lynch is behind all of this?" Porter asked in surprise.

"_Mr. Lynch has been gathering items from all over Rapture through Alexander and having them transported to a secret location somewhere in the city. My calculations indicate that he intends to take as much of Rapture's advancements as he can and sell them on the surface for great profit. Not only is he in violation of Andrew Ryan's free-market policies as a Parasite, by my calculation, his 'discoveries' could ignite numerous wars and bring chaos to the surface and…knowing that you were on the surface Mr. Porter, I could not allow that." _The Thinker explained.

"You were trying to stop him…to protect me?" Porter asked in surprise.

"_You are my creator, Mr. Porter. To humanize it, you are my father. I did not wish to see harm befall you, Mr. Porter and although I could not accurately calculate your odds of survival in a world where ADAM had become public knowledge, every scenario I calculated ended in your death. My calculations suggested a single course of action: to stop Lynch and prevent him from returning to the surface." _The Thinker explained.

"And so you built an army. That would explain why you used reprogrammed security bots and turrets over Splicers. You could control the bots but not the splicers since Alex had control of the pheromones." Jack commented.

"And that's also why you built the sister-bots. You used the robotic Little Sisters here in Minerva's Den, calculated a way for the Big Daddies to follow them, modified them accordingly, and then sent them out to collect all the ADAM in Rapture. To keep it from Alex and Lynch." Porter added. The screens then shifted back to the Who is Atlas posters.

"_That's correct, Mr. Porter. But even with the aid of Mr. Poole, Mr. Sheti, and Ms. Holloway, my calculations always ended with Lynch's escape to the surface with some of Rapture's technology. But then approximately a week ago, something changed the equation. Two unidentified subjects appeared in Minerva's Den. They claimed to suggest a new variable that would completely change my calculations." _The Thinker explained in Atlas's voice as one of the monitors shifted to a still image showing the two strange twins.

"Hey it's those shady twins again!" Mark yelped.

"_They refused to offer identification but merely suggested I rewrite the equation into a hypothetical scenario. The equation would account for the unanticipated arrival of four well-armed individuals that were already familiar with Rapture and sought to achieve the exact opposite of Mr. Lynch's goals. With this variable in place, the equation was fundamentally altered and dramatically increased our odds of success. It was then a matter of waiting for these four individuals to arrive. I will say, Mr. Porter, I never calculated you would ever return to Rapture. Same with you Mr. Ryan, Mr. Meltzer, and same for Ms. Lamb." _The Thinker explained.

"I only wish Ellie hadn't…" Jack stammered, still grieving over Eleanor.

"Damn that Alex and his Big Sisters." Mark hissed.

"_Mr. Alexander has no sway over the Big Sisters." _Atlas replied, causing all of them to look at the monitors in surprise.

"What?!" Jack asked.

"Then who does?!" Porter asked.

"_That's just it, no one does. The Big Sisters have been a complete variable ever since Dr. Lamb left Rapture. Their behavior is completely erratic. They've disappeared off my monitors almost completely. Periodically I'll detect a Big Sister on the cameras or hear their movements or see traces of where they've been, but besides that, I've barely been able to track them down. They appear to leave both Alex's Splicers and my bots alone for the most part. Mr. Poole reported seeing a couple of them but they always fled or were watching him from safe places. The Sisters that attacked you in the Security Station at Heracles Hall was an anomaly. Something triggered some form of aggression in them and my calculations seem to imply that it was young Miss Lamb." _The Thinker explained.

"Eleanor? How would she have caused a reaction like that?" Jack asked.

"_As I said, the Big Sisters are complete anomalies. I can't predict their behaviors like I can everyone else. In regards to Miss Lamb, my calculations indicated an abnormal interest in her."_ The Thinker replied.

"What kind of interest?" Porter asked.

"_I was asked to try and give special attention to Miss Lamb. Those two unknowns I mentioned earlier requested I use a specific personality with her, a personality they provided: the personality of a woman named Elizabeth Comstock. My calculations indicate that this Elizabeth was, herself, an anomaly. She somehow arrived in Rapture in 1958 prior to the riots and __without__ using a bathysphere. She was seen associating with a man named Booker DeWitt, also an anomaly. Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth Comstock were both killed by a Big Daddy in Fontaine's Department Store while trying to capture the Big Daddy's Little Sister, a girl identified as Sally. But then, somehow, Ms. Comstock reappears, alive and unharmed. A second body of Miss Comstock's was found with the body of Mr. DeWitt. My calculations were thrown into disarray. It was statistically impossible for her to have survived the encounter with the Big Daddy, much less for an exact duplicate to have appeared." _The Thinker explained, showing archived surveillance images of Elizabeth.

"That is peculiar." Mark commented.

"How is that possible though? Could they have been twins?" Porter asked but Jack wasn't convinced.

"Or maybe it was the same Elizabeth…but not the same Elizabeth at the same time." Jack pondered, recalling the strange device in Hephaestus.

"_The 2nd Miss Comstock disappeared near Artemis Suites near Dr. Suchong's clinic and I lost track of her…that is until 1960 shortly after you first arrived Mr. Ryan." _The Thinker explained, showing surveillance stills of the Rapture Welcome Center, showing a young woman with short hair in a blue and white dress, Elizabeth, with an older man in the Welcome Center near the Gatherer's Garden that Jack had gotten his first taste of ADAM from. Outside the Welcome Center was a massive black winged creature that seemed to be in some form of distress.

"What is that?!" Jack asked in alarm.

"_Unknown. The strange creature simply appeared out of thin air along with Miss Comstock and a second Mr. DeWitt. The creature was crushed to death by the ocean pressures while Miss Comstock and this second Mr. DeWitt headed to one of the lighthouse bathyspheres and left Rapture. That was the last I saw of Miss Comstock or Mr. DeWitt. The creature's corpse was recovered and moved to Point Prometheus for study but disappeared in 1968 during the brief period I was shut down by Mr. Wahl. When I was reactivated, the creature's corpse was missing. Ryan Industries Scientists referred to it by the code name: Songbird." _The Thinker explained.

"But how did they get there?" Porter asked, trying to figure it out. The monitors then switched to images of strange white anomalous tears floating in the air.

"_My calculations indicate that there is a connection between Miss Comstock and these anomalies. Dr. Suchong referred to these as 'tears' and that they bridged time and space to connect one reality to another. One of the more mathematically sound theories is that Miss Comstock came from one of these tears." _The Thinker explained.

"I think he might be right." Jack said as he pulled out the schematics for the device from Hephaestus.

"What do you mean?" Porter asked as Jack unrolled the schematics.

"When I reached Hephaestus, there was an obstacle between me and my father's office, a sort of security door that I couldn't move from the outside. There was also this thing set up outside of the office as well. When I used it, it created one of those tears and partially brought through a door that was unobstructed and allowed me to pass safely through. The device failed shortly after I had made it through but I was inside the office. I believe that the door the device brought through was one from a parallel universe, brought through via the tear the device opened." Jack explained.

"It would offer an explanation as to how Miss Comstock got here." Porter said.

"_That's a good theory boyo, but those tears have been appearin' in Rapture since before Dr. Suchong initially built that device." _The Thinker replied.

"But that still doesn't disprove my theory. She could've had a device in her world and come through to ours." Jack suggested, rolling the schematics back up.

"That's true but unless we met this Elizabeth in person, we'll probably never know." Porter replied. Mark was simply sat to the side, letting the two geniuses discuss physics.

"_According to those two unknowns, they said that Ms. Lamb would soon learn Miss Comstock's story. But with Miss Lamb's apparent demise, my calculations are thrown into disarray. The equation simply does not compute." _The Thinker said as Mark sighed and stepped forward.

"Look, I hate to break up the physics debate, but we need to stop Lynch, don't we?" Mark asked.

"He's right. We do." Jack said.

"But how do we get to him? Do we even know where he is?" Porter asked.

"_We do. He's holed up in Fontaine Futuristics, protected by Alexander and all of the surviving Splicers in Rapture." _The Thinker replied.

"All of the Splicers in Rapture? That's not good." Jack mumbled.

"_It's actually not as bad as you might think. It's no less dangerous but there is good news. After the four of you were introduced to my equations, I calculated a new course of action. In addition to stealing the ADAM away from Alexander and Mr. Lynch, I began a campaign of genocide against the Splicers, focusing on thinning their numbers so that by the time you all got here, you'd have an easier time of it. As of this moment, 99 percent of Rapture's surviving Splicer Population is inside Fontaine Futuristics and they only number in the upper thirties." _The Thinker explained.

"You've been busy." Jack complimented, impressed.

"_Most of it was achieved by systematically flooding parts of the city and drowning the bastards. The rest had to be done with the security bots."_ The Thinker explained.

"And what about all that ADAM that you've collected?" Jack asked.

"_Disposed of. I've rendered all the ADAM I've collected, save for very small quantities, completely inert. By introducing a number of chemicals to the ADAM, it effectively renders the ADAM inert and completely unusable. Dr. Tenenbaum developed the formula for killing ADAM. It's called SERPENT." _The Thinker explained as Jack nodded.

"That's right. She still uses it actually." Jack commented.

"So what about Lynch? He can't be allowed to reach the surface." Mark said.

"_The answer is simple. You'll need to storm his headquarters in Fontaine Futuristics, finish off his Splicers and confront him. I've had Mr. Sheti load the train in the Atlantic Express with as many security bots and my customized tanks as he can fit. He'll be joining you in the fight and the train will take you straight to Fontaine Futuristics. Thanks for reconnecting me to the Atlantic Express switchboards by the way, Mr. Meltzer." _The Thinker explained, Jack picking up his helmet.

"Ah so that's why you had me take that little detour." Mark said with a smile.

"Then I think we best go put an end to this once and for all." Jack said as he, Porter, and Mark put their helmets on.

"_To paraphrase the original Atlas: Would ya kindly kill the son of a bitch." _The Thinker said as Jack smirked towards the machine while picking up a new pipe wrench off the ground, smiling at it.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Jack said as they turned and started heading for the train station.

…

Elsewhere in Rapture, Eleanor's eyes fluttered slowly open. She looked around and found herself lying on a mattress on the floor of a very run down part of Rapture. Her helmet had been removed and was lying next to her and there was an odd assortment of children's toys surrounding her. Children's crayon drawings littered the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room she was in. The room had once been part of a medical facility of some sort but had long since been abandoned by anyone of the medical profession. A pile of broken cameras lay atop a gurney in the corner and debris had been deliberately piled up near the doors and windows. She looked around but didn't see anyone. She checked her radio but found it had been crushed and was no longer functional.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Right where you need to be." A voice came from nearby. She turned and saw two strange people, a man and a woman with orange hair and matching clothes.

* * *

**End Chapter 13**

One small note before you start crying foul. The Thinker identifies Elizabeth as Elizabeth Comstock since that's the alias she used in Rapture. Just a bit of clarification.


	14. Elizabeth

"_I've seen through all the doors now. I've seen every possibility, every combination, every knowable variance…save one. Comstock is dead but I cannot shake the thought of that girl from my mind. In my quest to erase Comstock from existence, have I doomed this girl? I have to help her. I've seen a door that I cannot open. A variation that's locked to me but even then, I know what's behind it. It's how my life ends. So am I to die in nameless anonymity? Forgotten and unknown in this and every universe? My story, Booker's story, Columbia's story needs to be known! Lutece said something about Prime Constants. She says that there's always a lighthouse, always a man, and always a city but that I miss one every time! She says I've got all three right but one wrong! What does she mean?! Which one did I miss?! Which one-…wait…I did miss one…I should've known. It's so obvious."_

Elizabeth  
"The Fourth Constant."

* * *

"Where am I?" Eleanor asked.

"Right where you need to be." A voice came from nearby. She turned and saw two strange people, a man and a woman with orange hair and matching clothes. Eleanor started to climb to her feet, looking at the strange man and woman. She quickly checked her diving suit, the hole caused by the rebar piercing her skin having long since healed as a result of her Little Sister physiology. When she looked back at the two, they were gone, vanished. She looked down and saw watery boot prints leading into a hole in the wall. Eleanor quietly started following these footprints, noticing a broken sign on the wall reading "Dr. Yi Suchong, MD Free Clinic." The footprints suddenly swerved, taking Eleanor towards another room where the long dead of Dr. Suchong still lay impaled on a desk with a broken Big Daddy drill through him and the desk. The lights had long since failed so the room was dark but had just light enough for her to recognize her surroundings. She then saw a light coming from the back wall to Suchong's office, the wall itself partially broken and knocked inward revealing a hidden facility in the back. Eleanor quietly stepped through into the back area, hearing music playing as she entered. As she got closer, she recognized the tune: Le Vie en Rose. It was a recording on a phonograph coming from further in the facility.

She suddenly heard a sound near her and turned with a fist full of Incinerate ready to go, the glow around her hand lighting the area but when she did, she saw at least three pairs of glowing yellow eyes staring back at her. She froze, realizing where she was. She looked around and saw more pairs of eyes peering out at her from the shadows, at least a dozen in total. She was surrounded by Big Sisters. She then saw one of the sisters creeping towards her, her long black hair partially covering her face, her skin the same grey tone as was common to the Little Sisters. The Big Sister looked at Eleanor with a look of fear, raising a hand towards Eleanor's face. Eleanor didn't resist but braced herself for possible pain. She was surprised when she felt the sister's gloved hand gently feeling her face, opening her left eye by force, and looking at it curiously.

"Sister." She said in a soft and meek voice. Eleanor was startled by this and saw as more sisters began approaching, emerging from the shadows in awe. Eleanor was stunned by their condition. They barely looked human, lacking the growths common to prolonged splicing but their skin was still grey and their eyes had the same yellow glow they'd had since they were made Little Sisters. Some of their diving gear had been torn, tattered, or even missing. Their nails, when visible, were long and/or broken, their hair all long and scraggly. One of them was covering herself, most of her diving gear was missing, but she was practically nothing but skin and bones. Eleanor immediately started to feel pity for them, realizing their pitiful existence and that the only reason they were still alive was because the ADAM in their bodies wouldn't let them die. She then heard one of them making a slight humming sound and felt one grab her left arm by the wrist, pulling at it gently.

"Come." One of them said, Eleanor turning and seeing one trying to lead her by the hand into the facility. The Sisters followed them through the facility to a room with a large window overlooking Rapture. Part of the floor had given way, leading into a large open space beneath. The Sister let go of Eleanor, jumping down to the floor below then turning and beckoning for Eleanor to follow. Eleanor quietly jumped down to the lower level which was similarly windowed on one side. Eleanor turned away from the window and let out loud gasp of fear at the initial sight before her. It was a massive black winged creature, or at least what remained of it. The creature had been dead for at least ten years but looked far different than anything Eleanor had seen before. The creature's body had been propped up so that it was sitting upright against the wall, its monstrously large hands cupped together and frozen to the floor with a large mound of ice. Eleanor then saw something resting in the creature's hands, a body frozen in the ice. Eleanor quietly approached the body, the sisters dropping down and, moving to watch. As Eleanor approached, she began to make out some of the body's features: a head of long dark brown hair, a white shirt and blue skirt. Her shoes were hidden beneath some of the ice. Propped up nearby was a dressing manikin with a white corset, blue ladies' jacket, blue skirt, and boots, all of which looked like they were from the turn of the century. Also nearby was a phonograph and record case for "You Belong to Me." Eleanor suddenly realized what the girls were doing and what they had done as she recognized the bloodied face beneath the ice.

"Elizabeth…but…how…she was-." Eleanor stammered. Elizabeth was laid out in a burial pose, her body preserved in the ice and looking exactly as she was when she had died. Her eyes were open, staring almost lovingly towards something that had long since vanished.

"Dead?" a voice behind her said but when Eleanor turned towards the voice she saw no one but the sisters who seemed to be backing away in alarm and confusion. When Eleanor turned back she saw the two people she had thought she'd seen earlier. They were standing on opposite sides of Elizabeth's body, looking down at her with their hands in almost a prayerful fashion. Their clothes however had inexplicably turned black.

"The machine served its purpose it would seem." The woman said.

"Handy thing, that." The man commented as Eleanor looked at the two in confusion.

"Who are you?! What's going on?! How did she die?! Who killed her?! Was it you?!" Eleanor asked angrily, demanding answers. The sisters seemed to sense her anger and reacted in kind, growling and hissing at the two people.

"Us? Please, we're scientists not killers." The woman replied.

"Afraid she's been dead for…oh I'd say ten, eleven years now." The man said as Eleanor put her hands to her head to her head in confusion.

"I don't understand! We spoke with one another! She helped me reunite with my friends! How has she been dead for over ten years?!" Eleanor asked as the two looked towards her.

"Lives, lived, will live." "Dies, died, will die." "What you heard was our doing." "With the aid of some of Rapture's marvelous technology-…" "…-we hired an actor to play her part." "She couldn't exactly play it herself, you see." The two said, going back and forth.

"Wha-…you what?!" Eleanor asked, still trying to make sense of their explanation.

"The girl you spoke with was a machine." "A machine capable of imitating anyone if given enough to go on." "The machine spoke in her voice and guided you to where we needed you to be." "Your sisters here did the rest." They replied but Eleanor still confused.

"But…why?! Some sort of sick joke?!" Eleanor asked, getting angrier by the minute.

"Don't look at us." "This wasn't our idea." "We're just the hired hands." "And the hands rarely are the brains." They replied before man looked at the woman curiously.

"Well now you've done it." "Done what?" "Made me feel bad." "Don't be cheeky. I was referring to-." "Oh, right." They said as Eleanor groaned.

"Well if it wasn't your idea then whose was it?!" Eleanor asked. The two looked at her and then down at Elizabeth, Eleanor blinking in surprise at the implication.

"Do you know what she is?" "Or rather, do you know what she was?" "You may not know the answers." "But there is someone who can tell you." "She's been dying to speak to you for roughly eleven years now." They said as they both stepped down from Elizabeth's body and both reached out a hand towards Eleanor. Eleanor cautiously approached, quietly taking hold of their hands. Suddenly there was a strange expanding bubble that enveloped all three of them. Eleanor looked around and found she was stood outside the Rapture Lighthouse at night with stars lighting up the night sky. The light from the lighthouse lit the sea beneath her, the waves calm and serine. Eleanor was facing the flight of steps to the right of the lighthouse door.

"So…you're Eleanor." She heard a familiar voice say. Eleanor turned and saw a familiar face standing nearby, leaning against the railing, looking out over the sea. The twins were seated in a rowboat tied to the other set of steps to the lighthouse. Elizabeth turned towards her with a sad but glad smile.

"Elizabeth?" Eleanor asked, approaching her. Elizabeth looked Eleanor's diving suit over curiously and allowed a small chuckle to escape.

"Is that what they wear in the 1970s?" she asked as Eleanor looked her diving suit over for a second before realizing that Elizabeth was joking.

"But…I don't understand. I just saw-…" Eleanor said but was interrupted as Elizabeth placed her left index finger on her lips, quieting her.

"Whatever it was that you saw, it was me. It's my fate. My future. I had the Luteces arrange for you to come here. I wanted to meet you at least once before-..." Elizabeth said but Eleanor looked confused.

"Meet me?" Eleanor asked as Elizabeth stepped back over towards the railing, motioning for her to look out over the ocean.

"We come from two different perspectives. Two different worlds separated by space and time, both of them full of constants and variables. There's always a lighthouse…" Elizabeth said, motioning to the lighthouse behind them. When she did, Eleanor noticed a different, older looking, lighthouse briefly appear in the distance.

"…always a man…" Elizabeth said as Eleanor briefly saw Andrew Ryan reflected in the water and the image of a man with a thick white beard briefly become visible in the sky.

"…and always a city." Elizabeth said as Eleanor briefly saw the lights of Rapture beneath the waves and also the outline of a large flying city in the sky, lit up by a flash of lightning.

"Those constants are always there, no matter what you do to try and erase them. You can kill the man before he builds his city but another man will rise and build a different one in his stead. But there's one constant that I never knew existed until now…" Elizabeth explained before turning to Eleanor, taking her by both hands, holding them together.

"There's always an Elizabeth." Elizabeth said, confusing Eleanor. She said nothing though as Elizabeth took a breath.

"We've both lived lives that parallel and imitate each other's so similarly it's hard to ignore them. We both lived in the city, for you: Rapture, for me: Columbia. We were held captive by a member of our family and forced to conform to their ideologies. For me: Zackary Comstock, for you: Sofia Lamb. We rebelled, dreaming of one day seeing the world beyond the city. For you: the surface, for me: Paris. We were exalted by those who followed our captors as the keys to their salvation, both of us hailed as 'the lamb.' And we were rescued by men who both were and were not our fathers. For me: Booker DeWitt, for you Subject Delta. And in the end our fathers were willing to sacrific their very lives to see to it that we would live and thrive. So as you see, we've both lived similar lives, so it cannot be mere coincidence." Elizabeth explained, as Eleanor began to see what she meant. Their lives were similar indeed, the parallels were undeniable.

"Then…if you're the Elizabeth of one world, and I'm the Elizabeth of another, how are you in my world?" Eleanor asked as Elizabeth smiled sadly.

"I exist there although I'm not meant to. I made a mistake. In my attempts to fundamentally change my own past, I left an innocent girl to live a life of death and darkness. My first mistake gave her hope for a promising future and my second mistake took it away. I have to correct my mistake. That's where I'm going now, why I'm talking to you now. You may not have the same gifts that I do but you have ability to know what I went through, to know what happened, to know my story and the story of Columbia. You have the ability to carry my memories so that I, in some way, will continue to exist as I am. So that no one will ever make the same mistakes and that another Elizabeth is never created in your lifetime." Elizabeth explained, Eleanor understanding her meaning.

"Does…this mean that I'll never see you again?" Eleanor asked. Elizabeth smiled and sighed sadly.

"You will and you won't. You will never see 'Elizabeth' again…but…" Elizabeth said as she pulled a small card from her sleeve and handed it to Eleanor. Eleanor looked at the card which read "Anna DeWitt" and gave an address for a place in New York.

"What's this?" Eleanor asked, looking back to see Elizabeth walking towards the steps to the boat where the Luteces were patiently waiting. Elizabeth paused and smiled back with a tear running down her face.

"Ask your father, and he will lead you to me." She said, causing Eleanor to furrow her brow before looking on the back of the card and seeing the Greek letter: Delta printed on the back, causing her to blink in surprise. Elizabeth then climbed into the boat, smiling back at Eleanor as the Luteces cast off and started rowing the boat into the darkness. Eleanor watched until even the lantern on the boat was invisible and then turned towards the Lighthouse, pushing the doors open as she walked through, finding herself back where she had been mere minutes ago, staring at Elizabeth's eleven year old corpse. The Sisters were all still gathered behind her, watching her curiously, Eleanor now knowing what she was to do. She started to approach Elizabeth's corpse and as she did, she sensed traces of ADAM in the corpse, realizing what Elizabeth meant. Eleanor quietly extended one of her needles, approaching Elizabeth's corpse and carefully inserting the needle, warming the ice a bit to ease her gathering. As the ADAM flowed out of Elizabeth and into Eleanor, she felt a rush of memories flooding into her.

Elizabeth's life in Columbia, trapped in Monument Island, the visits from Songbird, the arrival of Booker DeWitt, the Luteces, the fighting between Zackary Comstock and Daisy Fitzroy, the Vox Populi and the Founders, how Elizabeth gained her powers when her pinky got cut off and left behind in her original reality, her time in Rapture, her quest to kill the last Comstock, her quest to rescue Sally, and finally her death at the hands of Frank Fontaine. Eleanor immediately broke down in tears as the last of Elizabeth's ADAM was extracted and had been absorbed into her. Tears mourning someone she knew better than anyone else in the world and yet not at all. Eleanor smiled at Elizabeth's frozen face, reaching forward and closing her eyes. Eleanor was proud to be the one to remember Elizabeth and was proud to be her world's Elizabeth. But Elizabeth's card and final words to her finally made sense.

"_Ask your father, and he will lead you to me."_ She had said. Eleanor now knew why the name Anna DeWitt was so familiar. It wasn't because it was Elizabeth's birth name but because someone else she'd known had known that same name. One of Elizabeth's memories recalled an alternate perspective of a different, older, Elizabeth in the 1930s in New York, smiling at a child in a bassinet. This memory of Elizabeth's suddenly brought a matching memory but from a different person and different visual perspective to her mind. She recalled a memory of a woman identical to this Elizabeth, smiling down at a child in a bassinet somewhere in New York in the late 1930s, smiling at the child. It was the same as the one Elizabeth had, but seen from the point of view of the child. She knew whose memory it was as she looked at the Delta emblem on the back of her gloved hand.

"Father." She said softly as she pocketed the card. She then stood up and turned towards the Sisters, all of whom looked up at her with hopeful expressions on their faces. She then smiled at the sisters, one of them beginning to make a humming sound that sounded like Le Vie en Rose. Eleanor wanted to help the sisters of their condition but didn't know how. As she pondered, one of them stepped forward, placing Eleanor's right hand on her head. Eleanor knew what she was trying to say and her hand started to glow. The Sisters watched in anticipation as Eleanor rescued the Sister. In a flash, Her skin returned to normal skin tones and her eyes lost their yellow glow. She smiled in gratitude before collapsing to the ground and expiring on the spot. Eleanor was horrified, she hadn't wanted that to happen but the Sisters didn't seem surprised. They were saddened but it seemed that they knew what would happen. One of them then crept forward and put her hands on Eleanor's needle and motioned towards the dead Sister. Eleanor understood and began to wonder if perhaps the sisters were smarter than she first realized.

She then proceeded to harvest the dead sister's remaining ADAM, and as she did, she learned why the sisters had preserved Elizabeth's body. Elizabeth had sacrificed her life to help save one of them, a Little Sister named Sally. Sally then passed along some of her ADAM amongst the Little Sisters, letting them know of Elizabeth's sacrifice and the sisters honored her by preserving her body. Eleanor also gained memories looking back to the sessions where Sofia Lamb undid Eleanor's Little Sister conditioning as well as moments between Lamb and Alexander discussing how to control the Big Sisters. Eleanor immediately realized what had happened. The Big Sisters were trying to convey important information to Eleanor but couldn't with their conditioned minds, information that would allow Eleanor to help them. Eleanor then turned and broke off the needle on the dead Sister's syringe and started putting three holes into it and then started dulling the sharp edges, working on something with fervent determination.

* * *

**End Chapter 14**

I noticed numerous parallels between Eleanor and Elizabeth, most of which were pointed out above.

Both possess unique powers: Elizabeth had her power to open tears and Eleanor had her Little Sister physiology and later her Big Sister powers. Both were intended to become the "lamb" of salvation to their people: For Elizabeth it was the Founders as the Seed of the Prophet and for Eleanor it was the Rapture Family as the People's Daughter. Both were used by one of their parents to forcefully become this "lamb:" Elizabeth had Zachary Comstock and Eleanor had Dr. Sofia Lamb. Both were rescued by men who, in some way, was their father: Elizabeth was rescued by Booker DeWitt, her father from an alternate reality, and Eleanor was rescued by Subject Delta who she considered to be her father regardless of if he was or not. (In this story, he is her biological father, canonically he's not) Both were imprisoned within a city: Elizabeth in Columbia and Eleanor in Rapture. Their parentage was also a matter of debate: Elizabeth was allegedly born after only being in utero for a week and is supposed to be the daughter of Zachary and Lady Comstock (this is later proven false) while Eleanor's father was never mentioned in Bioshock 2.

Eleanor's very birth is also a matter of debate since there's no evidence to support or deny Sofia Lamb's claim that she was Eleanor's mother and, given Bioshock's history of unusual and unnatural births for its main characters, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some form of tinkering with the space/time continuum to bring her into Rapture. She could easily be another Anna DeWitt, only taken by Lamb, not Comstock. We do know that Suchong built a Lutece device so it is possible. But for the sake of this story we're not going there. But if 2K gets the idea to make a 4th Bioshock game for whatever reason…here's a plotline idea for ya. Heck if anyone wants to take this story idea and run with it, be my guest. Just be sure to give me credit.

I also want to clear up something. The meeting between Eleanor and Elizabeth is supposed to have taken place between Burial at Sea Episode 1 &amp; 2, just before Elizabeth embarks on her mission to save Sally.


	15. Fired

"_So that's it then. The Comstock line is ended. Curiously however the DeWitt line continues. This 'Prime' version of Mr. DeWitt never became Comstock and never lost Anna to us. As a result this 'Prime' Anna does not have the ability to open tears or is even aware of any other perspectives. Brother believes it's for the better. I'm inclined to agree. We do appear have the monopoly on time and space now. We can't control it but it has proven rather enjoyable to see what becomes of the different universes. We are now ageless spectators and occasional participants in the histories of however many different perspectives we desire. I am content with this, as is my brother. We've nothing but time on our hands."_

Rosalind Lutece  
"Nothing but Time."

* * *

In the Fontaine Futuristics building, a couple of Splicers were standing around in the Atlantic Express Station but weren't expecting one of the trains to arrive, the train pulling up to the platform and stopping. They approached the train, trying to peer into the train through the door windows but when they opened, they saw three heavily armed and armored men standing with shotguns in hand. There was a loud explosion as all three shotguns fired simultaneously, killing the Splicers instantly. Jack, Porter, and Meltzer emerged with Suresh close behind along with numerous security bots with the blue colored lights and several tracked turrets. Suresh was carrying a tommy gun that had been partially modified.

"Alright let's go!" Jack yelled as they hurried out of the station. They soon noticed that the glass tube that crossed over between the station and the Futuristics building was still destroyed.

"This is a problem. How do we get across?" Meltzer asked.

"I wish Eleanor was here. According to her, Subject Delta passed through here on his way to rescue her two years ago. His memories would know." Porter said as Jack noticed the door leading down into an airlock.

"I think this is the way." Jack said as they followed him and saw the airlock.

"Well, we can get in through this way but that'll strand the bots and Mr. Sheti over here." Porter said but Suresh merely smiled.

"Do not worry for me, friends. Atlas has requested my assistance elsewhere in Rapture. He wishes me to guard something very important and very valuable. We shall meet again my friends." Suresh replied as he headed for the train.

"Take care, Suresh." Mark called as Suresh walked away.

"_My bots will guard the station just in case. If you need any help from me, just signal for security using Mr. Meltzer's device." _The Thinker said with Atlas's voice as they all stepped into the airlock, Porter throwing the switch, causing the airlock to close and start filling with water.

"_What exactly did you do to that signal device?" _Jack asked as they stepped out into the ocean, making their way towards the airlock on the opposite side.

"_Talk to those weird twins." _Meltzer replied. They remained silent for the remainder of their walk to the main structure of Fontaine Futuristics. Soon they had passed through the airlock into the building and were cautiously approaching the Futuristics lobby. As they entered, they saw the door leading into the reception area had been jammed open with the body of a dead Alpha Series lying in the doorway. The three began their approach up the stairs, their eyes peeled for any sign of Splicers when they heard Alex the Great come onto the P.A. System.

"_It would seem that we have intruders in the building! Escort them from the premises immediately!" _Alex ordered. They soon heard the yelling of the Splicers as they came charging out towards the lobby. The three men quickly raised their weapons, Jack and Porter with their machine guns while Meltzer raised the chemical sprayer, loading a napalm canister into the sprayer and releasing a steady stream of flames just as the first Splicers came rushing in, igniting them in flames. Porter and Jack opened fire with their machine guns, mowing down several but suddenly had to duck for cover as bullets started flying past them.

"Leadheads!" Jack yelled as they quickly leapt inside and taking cover. The Splicers attacking them were all armed with machine guns or pistols. Meltzer quickly fired a rocket at one group, blowing them away while Porter lobbed a Gravity Well polyp into the other crowd, pulling them all in while Jack finished them off with his machine gun. At last they had a moment's peace but they knew it wouldn't last as they heard the yelling of more Splicers from the floor above.

"Meltzer!" Jack signaled, Mark quickly hitting the button on the signal device. Instantly the device started making the high pitched whistling tune. Almost instantly the whistling of security bots could be heard, several elite security bots flying in and attacking the approaching Splicers. Jack, Porter, and Mark quickly took advantage of the reinforcements to reload their weapons and charge out into the atrium which was now only inhabited by a handful of splicers after the bots had done their jobs. The two bots had been damaged and knocked out already but the three men were able to finish them off in little time.

"Which way to Alex?" Jack asked as he reloaded his shotgun.

"Airlock should be that way." Porter said, motioning towards the doorway near the restrooms. The three started to approach the doorway but as they approached the airlock proper, a security door slammed shut in their faces as an alarm sounded.

"_Security Alert in progress! Airlock malfunction reported! All airlocks are currently locked down until repairs can be completed! We thank you for your cooperation." _An automated voice announced.

"Gah! Damn it Lynch! Porter, any chance you-know-who can get this open?" Jack asked.

"We can ask." Porter replied as he hit the talk button on his radio.

"Atlas, can you get this door open?" Porter asked.

"_Sorry, Mr. Porter, I can't. Localized security lockdowns override any control I might have, but I think I might have calculated a means of overriding the security lockdown." _Thinker replied.

"What do we need to do?" Jack asked.

"_Localized lockdowns have to be triggered from inside the affected buildings. In order to do that, you'll need to deactivate the lockdown from a security center. There's one in the main lobby behind you but there's a catch." _Thinker explained.

"What's the catch?" Mark asked.

"_The lockdown was issued manually by the last of Alex's Lieutenants. A Splicer named Buck Raleigh. He's holed up in Fontaine's Office on the second floor. As long as he lives, he'll continue to reinitialize the lockdown before you can get anywhere. Be careful though, he's Alex's Second-in-Command and not to be taken lightly." _Thinker explained.

"Alright, we take him out first along with any surviving Splicers." Jack said as they headed back out into the lobby, heading for the second floor. As they headed up the stairs, they heard the P.A. system come on again.

"_Don't think I can't see you scurrying around down there! I know you're trying to get hold of the company secrets! Well those are private property me-laddos! The penalty for espionage is immediate termination! Mr. Raleigh will see you ejected from the premises! In short, you're all fired! FIRED __**FIRED!**__" _Alex announced angrily as they reached the second floor, heading straight for Fontaine's Office. As they approached the doors, they were taken aback when the doors were suddenly blown off the wall and crashed to the ground. They soon saw a large wall of angry flesh come bursting through the doorway, smashing the doorframe in the process. The beast wore the tattered remains of a tan shirt, black trousers with suspenders, and most of its gut hung out with a pair of massive arms that glowed with fire. There were faint strands of grey hair on its head and upper lip.

"What is that thing?!" Mark asked.

"I'd say that's Raleigh!" Jack replied as Buck turned towards them, letting out a feral roar before charging towards them. The three men quickly ran clear of his path in two different directions, Mark and Jack one way and Porter another, just as he brought a huge fist down where they had been standing a moment ago. All three of them opened fire with their machine guns, causing Buck to try and shield himself before lobbing a fireball towards them that exploded in a powerful concussive blast, knocking Jack and Meltzer onto their backs while Porter kept firing with his machine gun, using anti-personnel ammunition to try and wear him down.

"It's no use! Our guns aren't doing anything! We need a plan!" Jack yelled as he and Mark climbed to their feet. Mark immediately raised his elephant gun and fired a shot into Buck's side, leaving a large welt in his skin but ultimately not doing much against him. Porter hit Buck with a Winter Blast but only succeeded in freezing his left arm which he smashed against the wall, breaking the ice and not doing much either.

"He's too strong!" Porter exclaimed, turning and running around the staircase to join up with Mark and Jack. Jack then glanced towards the entrance to Fontaine's.

"I've got an idea! Lead him towards the Office!" Jack yelled as they started running towards the office, firing at him as they ran. Buck chased after them, roaring angrily as he continued his pursuit. The three ran into Fontaine's Office, the desk and stuffed polar bear having been thrown aside some time ago. Jack quickly came to a stop in front of the window and turned towards the entrance.

"Is this your plan?!" Porter asked as they saw Buck come charging into the room.

"I suggest finding something to hold onto!" Jack yelled, both Porter and Mark rushing to opposite sides of the room as Jack hit him with an Electro Bolt, getting his attention before lowering his Weapon and unleashing an Insect Swarm on him. Buck let out a roar as he started flailing his arms at the hornets, continuing his charge towards the windows. Jack quickly leapt clear just as Buck smashed into the windows, cracking them but not breaking them.

"Glass! Glass! Break the glass!" Jack yelled as Mark quickly fired a rocket at the glass just as Buck was getting up. The rocket smashed into Buck's chest, the concussive blast being enough to throw him backwards hard against the glass, causing the crack to grow bigger, water beginning to flow through some of the larger cracks. The three men quickly grabbed hold of some of the sturdier fixtures, Jack firing a few armor piercing rounds from his revolver into the glass, shattering the window and allowing a huge rush of seawater into the building, carrying Buck into the hall outside. Within seconds the entire room was flooded, the rush of seawater keeping the men pinned against the walls as the Futuristics building was quickly flooded. They could only hear the flow of water for a few minutes before the current eased off and they were able to move again, their radios coming to life.

"_Mr. Porter! Mr. Ryan! Mr. Meltzer! Are you alright?!" _Thinker asked.

"We're fine. We might've just flooded Fontaine Futuristics." Jack replied as they stepped out into the flooded building, noticing the flailing of some of the Splicers as they drowned, including Buck as he clutched his throat, gasping for air.

"_Well…I will admit, you surprise me gentlemen. Not only did you defeat Raleigh but you also opened the airlocks. Those airlocks are designed to disengage when the building floods so now your path to Alexander is clear as can be."_ The Thinker explained as they floated down into the main lobby, passing the drowning splicers, hearing their faint gurgling, while curious fish already began to swim into the building, the sea having now claimed it. They soon reached the airlock which stood open at both ends, the security gate having been broken open when the seawater rushed in. As they made their way across the seafloor toward the ADAM Laboratories, they heard their radios come on again.

"_So you've killed all of my splicers. You've taken away my marks. So be it. Rapture has already offered up a king's ransom of things that I can sell on the surface…now I need only tie up loose ends." _They heard Lynch say over the radio. The three entered the airlock and threw the lever to drain it. Just as the airlock doors opened, they heard Alex the Great down the hall in the darkened specimen chamber.

"W-w-wait Mr. Lynchman! D-D-Don't be too hasty! We can work out a new business arrangement! I'll go outside if you don't want me around anymore!" Alex pleaded fearfully before letting out an agonized scream, the entire room beginning to flash with blue-white light as Alex was electrocuted to death in his tank.

"Alexander!" Jack yelled as they rushed into the darkened room, their flashlights on and shining on the tank just as Gilbert Alexander's deceased form sank down towards the bottom of the tank. They then heard laughter echoing throughout the chamber.

"You're too late boyo! I'm takin' the first sub topside! Say hullo to your old man for me, Ryan, and thank him for makin' me the richest man on Earth!" they heard Lynch yell. They then saw a light flicker on down the stairs to the right leading to the right into Live Test Facilities. The three men quickly chased after him, their weapons ready. They burst out into the facilities just as they saw a light shining from a door down the stairs to their left. They hurried towards the source of the light and saw a doorway leading down a flight of stairs and to the right into a sort of mineshaft reminiscent of the smuggler's cave tunnel. The doorway had been hidden and only recently opened. They hurried down into the hallway, the sound of doors opening and closing echoing ahead of them. They hurried through the hallway which was clearly a secret escape tunnel judging by the lack of décor and the rocky walls, quite possibly the one Fontaine used to make his disappearance after faking his death.

"We're gaining on him!" Jack yelled as they passed a sign which pointed them towards the Atlantic Express Station.

"We've got him trapped too!" Porter added but as they neared a hidden doorway into the station, they heard gunfire along with a number of loud explosions. When they arrived, they saw the Atlantic Express train pulling out of the station and the station littered with the broken remains of the destroyed security bots.

"Damn it! There he goes!" Jack cursed as they watched the train slip beneath the waves.

"Atlas can you stop the train?!" Porter asked.

"_Sorry boyo, I can't! He's got an override key! But I know where he's headed! I already dispatched another train for ya! It should be arriving any second now!" _The Thinker replied as they saw another train emerge from the water from the opposite direction, coming to a stop of at the platform.

"Inside! Hurry!" Jack ordered as they climbed aboard, Jack throwing the switch and setting the train into motion the minute they were aboard.

"It doesn't matter where he goes. There's no way for him to escape with the Bathyspheres locked down." Porter said in thought.

"No, didn't you hear? He has an override key. He probably has all his loot stashed away on a bathysphere already and just needs to get to it. We need to stop him before he does." Jack replied as Mark reloaded his nail gun.

"He won't escape us this time." Mark commented as they started to approach a building that Jack recognized.

"No…it can't be." Jack said as they all looked out the windows.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"It's…it's the Welcome Center." Jack said in awe as he recognized the signage the bathysphere from the lighthouse passed through on his way into the city.

"He won't be escaping via Bathysphere. The ports are blocked." Porter commented, motioning towards the bathysphere ports to the welcome center.

"I'll bet he has an alternate route." Jack said as the train arrived in the station. The station was larger than most others, having two separate tracks and platforms. The reason for its size was to accommodate large numbers of passengers back when the first citizens of Rapture started arriving in 1946. Lynch's train had already arrived and they saw evidence that there had been a struggle. Several destroyed bots lay scattered around the area, still giving off sparks. Jack, Porter, and Meltzer quickly exited their train and headed for the exit, rushing through a doorway into the large atrium near the ruined Kashmir Restaurant. The doorway was on a floor beneath the level where the Kashmir was and the walkway to the Kashmir had long since collapsed, leaving a steep slope down to the ground floor. But down on the ground floor was littered even more security bots and on person they weren't expecting.

"Suresh!" Mark called as he spotted the magician. Suresh was alive, barely, his entire right arm having been burned to a cinder from the bicep down and his body, covered with bruises and deep cuts. They quickly rode the slope down towards the ground floor, rushing up to Suresh.

"Suresh, what happened?!" Jack asked as he dropped to one knee near the wounded magician.

"I failed…"he gasped, trying to breathe, "…Lynch…too strong…for me."

"Take it easy, we can help." Mark said but Suresh weakly pointed towards a part of the wall where his magician's cane was stuck. The cane was stuck in a hidden panel on the wall where a secret door was hidden away.

"Lynch…heading for his sub. Must…stop him." Suresh said weakly.

"We will." Jack said, determinedly. Suresh smiled towards them.

"Rapture has died…The Four Horsemen…have arrived." Suresh said before he breathed his last, dying with a smile on his face. Jack and Mark stood over him for a moment as Porter pried the hidden door open, revealing a hidden tunnel leading under the seafloor.

"Come on…" Jack said, reloading his machine gun, "…we have a job to finish."

Porter and Mark both gave quiet nods, reloading their own weapons before charging into the tunnel, dead set on stopping Lynch from reaching the surface.

* * *

**End Chapter 15**

Next up, the exciting final battle!


	16. Lynch

"_Rumor has it that Fontaine has been running a smuggling operation out of Port Neptune. Does he not realize the danger he's putting us all in by doing so?! Of course he does. He's found a market for items that cannot be acquired here in Rapture. But should the Parasites find Rapture…it will be on his head. This cannot come to pass. Sullivan is investigating Fontaine, but if Rapture's security is compromised before we can bring him down, I'll need something to ensure the parasites cannot profit from __our__ work, from __our__ discoveries, from the sweat of __our__ brows! I'm setting up two security measures to protect Rapture from the surface. The first is a modification to the lighthouse, to confuse and ultimately destroy any ships or aircraft that get too close. The second is my last resort. If the Parasites find Rapture, I will go to where the very foundations of Rapture were first laid…and cut the city down at its knees."_

Andrew Ryan  
"My Last Resort"

* * *

Jack, Porter, and Meltzer were running through the hidden passageway, the passageway barely lit by a series of electric lights. They all had their weapons ready to fire the minute they had Lynch in their sights. Soon the tunnel began to curve slightly before finally reaching a staircase leading upward. They quickly ran up the staircase only for a large heavy metal door to slam shut behind them, blocking off the stairs. They all had their flashlights on already and were looking the room over. The room they were in was dark but spacious, with several heavily reinforced support columns welded firmly into the floor and ceiling.

"Where is he?" Jack asked in annoyance.

"So ya finally decide to show up!" they heard Lynch's voice echoing throughout the room. They immediately raised their weapons in alarm.

"Show yourself Lynch! We aren't going to let you escape!" Jack yelled into the room.

"Ah now see, you are correct. You won't let me escape, but I'm going to anyway. I'm going to the surface with my trove of inventions, I'm going to become a wealthy man…oh and I'm also going to pay your lovely little wife a visit too." Lynch crowed with a dark chuckle, enraging Jack.

"First correction, you aren't making it to the surface! Not alive at least!" Jack spat angrily as they tried to follow the sound of Lynch's voice but the metallic walls of the room they were in just kept bouncing the sound around so they couldn't locate the source.

"I'd like to know how you made it down here in the first place!" Mark yelled.

"I'm glad you asked. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to blend into a crowd…or a ship's crew. You picked up a bit a stowaway when the Nellie Bly pulled into port last, Meltzer." Lynch said as Mark froze.

"You-…you were on the Bly?" he asked in stunned shock.

"That's right boyo! I would say that the crew didn't know me but, of course, they did. After all, I'd been the first mate of the Bly ten years ago." Lynch said as Jack paused, flashing back to ten years ago when he and the five rescued Little Sisters were fished from the ocean by a cargo vessel, the S.S. Nellie Bly, the same ship Mark had used to reach Rapture two years ago. Jack had met an Irish-American crewman with an Irish accent and suddenly he realized a horrid truth.

"Wait! You?! You were that first mate that I met ten years ago?!" Jack asked, earning a laugh of amusement from Lynch.

"Well, ya remember me, do ya boyo?! Glad ta know ya remember me!" Lynch replied, laughing still.

"Then why'd you go through all that trouble to try and get the location of Rapture from me?!" Jack asked angrily.

"I had to know if there was anything in Rapture worth the effort! You played a brilliant part in the grand scheme of things! Showing me the power attainable through ADAM, the technological advancements, the veritable trove of riches that would make me the richest man on Earth! All thanks to you! All it took was a little deception, a little goading you into using that amazing power to protect someone you cared for. How is that old maid of yours?" Lynch asked with a dark chuckle, as Jack's hand lit up with an Incinerate charge.

"Show yourself and I'll tell you!" Jack roared but Lynch chuckled in amusement.

"You really think that I haven't prepared for you?! You think that you can just overpower me like you did ten years ago?! You don't stand a chance! I'm prepared for all of you! You gave me the perfect medium with which to showcase the amazing power of ADAM! I never knew that it would feel so exhilarating!" Lynch declared as the lights started to flicker on, mechanical noises beginning to echo throughout the room. They looked around and saw one whole wall was an oddly shaped dome-like structure with seven portholes in a 2-3-2 arrangement from the top down. Behind the portholes was a platform with numerous controls and a ship's wheel. The room was large and spacious, full of heavy lifting equipment and was in relatively good shape compared to the rest of Rapture. The room was large and boxlike with hidden stairways on opposite ends like the one the three had entered through earlier. At the back of the room was a large metal door on metal tracks marked "Submarine Bay." Dustcovers were all over the machines save for a set of rails running along overhead, dipping and raising at specific areas. On one wall was a large plaque that read "Sinker: Constructed – 1943, Warden Yarn Submarine Yards – Norfolk, VA. 'labor omnia vincit.'" The last part was Latin for "Hard Work Conquers All." As the lights came on, they turned and saw a figure standing atop a platform overlooking the area they were stood in. The figure was clad in black Alpha Series armor. The sleeves were missing, exposing a pair of muscular arms which had been artificially bulked up, his hands were gloved and instead of an oxygen tank on the back, there was a tank full of ADAM with at least four I.V. tubes running from the tank to his shoulders and biceps. His hands were glowing with Plasmids.

"Now that you've shown me this power! I'll use it to destroy you!" Lynch yelled before leaping down towards the ground, landing in front of them. They quickly opened fire with their weapons but Lynch raised a hand, the bullets from Porter and Ryan's machine guns and the nails from Meltzer's nail gun flying straight into his left hand, hovering in his palm with a golden glow.

"Behold the repulsive power of Return to Sender by Lynchman Enterprises!" Lynch yelled before throwing the collection of projectiles back at them, the three quickly dodging clear as the projectiles impacted one of the columns behind them, half of the bullets and nails embedding themselves into the column from the sheer force of the blast while the rest were scattered. The three quickly moved clear as Lynch raised his right hand which crackled with electricity, his glare fixed on Jack. He then thrust out his right hand, sending out a bolt of electricity at Jack, electrocuting him, Jack letting out a pained grunt as Lynch cackled.

"Need a charge?! Why not try Lynchman's Electro Bolt?!" Lynch asked and was about to move in to try and finish off Jack just as bullets started flying past his head. He turned and saw Meltzer firing at him with his Hand Cannon. Lynch let out a growl and raised a hand with ice freezing over it.

"Save those leftovers for another day when you use Lynchman's Winter Blast!" Lynch yelled as he released a Winter Blast towards him but Meltzer had dodged clear, rushing back around a corner as Porter jumped out from another corner, revving his drill to maximum speed and charging forward. Lynch narrowly dodged the drill as it went for his head, but the drill managed to catch the ADAM tube in Lynch's left arm and ripped it from his arm, destroying the needle and hose in the process. Lynch hissed in fury before punching Porter in the stomach, staggering him long enough to grab him by both shoulders and head butt him in the head, causing him to stagger back some in disorientation allowing Lynch to blast him backwards with a Sonic Boom.

"Show that stranger you're a danger with Lynchman's Sonic Boom!" Lynch cackled before suddenly getting ignited by an Incinerate from Jack. He spun around in time to see Jack duck behind a support column, slipping his Air Grabber onto his hand and raising his pistol. He suddenly jumped out from behind the column to come face to face with Lynch who grabbed him by the front of the diving suit and hoisted him into the air, raising his right hand with a flaming fist.

"Feeling the chill? Why not warm yourself up with a Devil's Kiss?! New from Lynchman!" Lynch asked as he fondled a molten sphere in his hand. Before he could use it however, he was suddenly smacked hard across the face by Jack's Air-Grabber, causing him to drop Jack who fired a few armor-piercing rounds from his pistol into Lynch's stomach, causing Lynch to stagger back slightly for a moment. Jack was dismayed, however, when he saw the bloodied wounds in Lynch's armor healing up. The ADAM from his suit was constantly healing his wounds. Lynch was chuckling menacingly at this. Jack quickly turned and jumped clear just as Lynch threw down and explosive polyp of fire of the Devil's Kiss Plasmid, the explosive just missing Jack. Jack was running away from him but as he did, he felt a strange tugging sensation on his right arm, the Air-Grabber seemingly magnetized towards the overhead track. He took a hunch and quickly leapt up towards the track, hooking the grabber on the railing which suddenly started propelling him along the line at high speeds, away from Lynch. Lynch snarled at Jack's escape.

"You won't get away from me that easily, Ryan! I'll-DAUGH!" Lynch yelped as he ran straight into a proximity mine that Meltzer had fired, launching him foward. This gave Mark the opportunity to rush in with the harpoon-drill and swing at Lynch who recovered from the explosion, quickly rolling onto his left side causing Mark to miss Lynch but still slice the ADAM tube in his right arm in two. Lynch angrily blasted Mark in the chest with a set of strange black crystals that seemed to give off a series of electrical sparks. Mark staggered back in confusion for a moment before getting hit by a near lethal amount of electricity, Mark only being saved thanks to having the Electric Flesh tonic in his genes but it was still enough to incapacitate him, smoke rising from his armor as he lay on the ground.

"Who needs the electric company when you have Lynchman's Shock Jockey?!" Lynch yelled, preparing to throw another Shock Jockey at Mark but was stopped when he suddenly felt himself being pulled backwards by a strange force, acid splashing onto him from one of Porter's Gravity Well plasmids. Lynch was being spun around as Porter quickly hurried towards the unconscious Mark, checking him. The Gravity Well threw Lynch backwards, crashing into some of the machinery. He growled as he started to rise to his feet, not noticing Jack having made a full circuit on the overhead Pneumo-lines and come flying off the rail, dropping down on Lynch from behind, knocking him forward. Jack quickly swung the Air-Grabber at the back of the disoriented Lynch's head, the grabber striking and puncturing the helmet while also shredding the two remaining ADAM tubes off the tank but the grabber didn't pierce far enough to reach Lynch's head. Lynch let out an angry roar.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, spinning around and grabbing Jack by the helmet and throwing him across the room, the helmet flying off Jack's head in the process. Jack tumbled to the ground and saw Lynch come running towards him but was suddenly knocked away by a blue burst of ion energy. Jack looked and saw Porter firing charged shots from his Ion Laser's Burst Cells. Jack was starting to climb to his feet when he saw a nearby toolbox with a familiar red tool handle sticking out of it. Lynch growled and suddenly dodged one of Porter's Burst shots, grabbing a nearby oil barrel with telekinesis and throwing it at Porter who caught the barrel with his own telekinesis plasmid but before he could do anything, the barrel exploded in a burst of flames as Lynch snapped his fingers. The force of the blast knocked Porter backwards where he struck a column hard with his head, knocking him out.

"Need a light?! Try Incinerate from Lynchman!" Lynch yelled. Jack was starting to get up when Lynch suddenly teleported near him, putting his hands around Jack's throat in an attempt to choke the life from him with one hand while removing his helmet with the other, Lynch's bearded face grinning evilly down at him, his eyes practically glowing with red light.

"I've waited for this Ryan! Ever since that day on the surface, I've looked forward to the day I would end you!" Lynch hissed as Jack gasped for air, reaching for something in his pocket.

"First I'll finish you off! Then I'll deal with your little friends! And once I reach the surface, I'll tear your little home in the Carolinas apart, piece by piece! As for your little family, I'll have my fun with your little twist and then suck the ADAM out of those brats of yours! Then I'll-AHHHHHH!" Lynch screamed in agony as Jack pulled the severed wrench handle and drove the severed end into Lynch's left eye socket. Jack quickly seized the opportunity and grabbed the whole wrench from the toolbox and delivered a painful blow to the side of Lynch's head, knocking him off. Jack was starting to climb to his feet again, reaching for his pistol and aiming at Lynch's head but just as he pulled the trigger, Lynch raised a hand and caught the bullet with the Return to Sender Plasmid and fired it back into Jack, hitting him in the right leg, causing Jack to cry out in excruciating pain, dropping his pistol and clutching his leg, his wound bleeding. Attempts to get up only caused more pain. He then saw Lynch rising to his feet, picking up the wrench off the ground and looming over Jack, the severed wrench end sticking out of his eye.

"It ends now, Ryan. I'm ending you right NOW!" Lynch yelled as he raised the wrench. Jack glared defiantly up at Lynch when the lights suddenly shut off, the only light at all coming from the Sinker's portholes at the front and even then it was dim cyan colored light.

"What?! Who did that?!" Lynch asked, his form silhouetted in the cyan light. Jack quickly seized the opportunity to try and move away but his leg made it difficult.

"Who's out there?! Is it you, Meltzer?!" Lynch asked when they suddenly heard a loud series of mechanical sounds coupled with the activation of over a dozen large television monitors that had appeared, previously hidden somewhere in the room, each of the screens showing the same "Please Stand By" message. The screens suddenly switched to the simultaneous image of a man wearing a fedora, the fedora over his eyes and a familiar mustache. In the bottom left corner of the screen was the name "Ryan."

"_Do you know what you call someone who enters another man's home, uninvited? A thief." _The voice of Andrew Ryan said through the monitors, Lynch looking at the screens in disbelief.

"Ryan?" he gasped in shock. Jack, at first, was surprised but quickly realized who, or rather what, it really was. At this point, Porter and Meltzer had come back around and were all sitting up in surprise at the monitors.

"_I don't recall inviting you into Rapture, Mr. Lynch, but clearly your intentions are not in Rapture's best interests. I've been patient with letting Atlas deal with you as his and my goals aligned. We both sought to force you out of hiding, but now you've worn out my patience. You break into my home, rifle through its pockets, stealing that which you have not earned with intent to sell it for your own gain on the surface, and worst of all, you injure my friends AND my son. You are worse than a thief, Mr. Lynch. You are a parasite…and parasites are not welcome in Rapture." _Ryan said through the monitors.

"Shut up you old hack! I'd heard you were dead! How are you still alive?!" Lynch asked "Ryan."

"_That__, Mr. Lynch, is the intellectual and private property of Ryan Industries, and you have already stolen enough of my property as it is. As a parasite, you are to be punished. You are aware of the punishment for parasites in my city, Mr. Lynch. Revocation of all private property rights, confiscation of all illegally acquired private assets, liquidation of all private assets, and incarceration." _"Ryan" said as Lynch scoffed.

"You can't take back the ADAM, Ryan! It's mine now! I can go back to the surface! Tell every paying country where to find Rapture and how to get ADAM and make plasmids and tonics and there's nothing you can do to stop me! I am my own advertising!" Lynch yelled.

"_That thought has already occurred to me, Mr. Lynch. But the ADAM situation can still be rectified." _"Ryan" said as they heard a familiar deafening screeching sound echo through the Sinker, the screech being loud enough to crack some of the smaller monitors. Lynch seemed to recognize the screeching sound, looking around in alarm along with Jack, Porter, and Meltzer.

"One Big Sister won't be enough to stop me, Ryan! I'll kill her easily!" Lynch yelled before hearing the second screech.

"_I believe you will find my solution to be more than adequate, Mr. Lynch." _Ryan replied just as the third screech was heard. They then saw a bright flash of pink light appear between Jack and Lynch, leaving a single Sister behind with Delta decals all over her armor.

"Stay away from my family, you bastard!" Eleanor Lamb yelled as Lynch turned towards her in anger. Jack, Porter, and Meltzer were stunned that Eleanor was still alive.

"You?! The People's Daughter?! Bah! You're no match for me! I've more ADAM than you could possibly imagine! I've beaten your friends here! What makes you think that you can beat me mono-e-mono?!" Lynch asked as Eleanor removed her helmet, glaring angrily at him.

"You're right, Mr. Lynch. Alone, one man is nothing but a single individual. A single idea. But when two or more gather together to accomplish a common goal for the greater good, they become a family. Well Mr. Lynch, I have a family now on the surface and I'll be damned if I let you bring them to harm. Because up there, we are free. Free to be what we want to be. Mr. Ryan, Mr. Porter, Mr. Meltzer, My SISTERS-…" Eleanor said as she produced the blunted needle and put it to her lips like a recorder, blowing into it, playing four notes: C-A-G-E. The shrill whistling from the makeshift recorder echoed loudly through the Sinker. Eleanor then lowered the needle as she glared at Lynch.

"-…and me." She said with a murderous tone in her voice as a loud screeching sound shook the entire vessel, shattering all but one of the monitors and even lightly cracking one of the portholes on the Sinker's bridge. The room was suddenly lit up by well over a dozen red lights emanating from within the helmets of over a dozen Big Sisters, the light from their helmets casting red beams of light all towards Lynch. Lynch was looking around in alarm and fear, backing away as Eleanor and the Sisters started to approach him. Suddenly the Sisters and Eleanor all charged towards him, their needles all raised and plasmids glowing.

"No, NO! GET AWAY! GET AW-AHHHH!" Lynch cried out, screaming in horror as the Big Sisters swarmed him, plunging their needles into him, forcefully draining the ADAM from his body. Jack, Porter, and Meltzer could only watch in amazement as Lynch tried, fruitlessly, to fight the Sisters off but they were too strong and too powerful even for him. Finally he'd been reduced to a scrawny and exhausted husk of a man when Eleanor suddenly raised a hand, the Sisters immediately backing away from him as he stood in exhaustion. Eleanor then produced a green polyp in her hand and threw it at Lynch who suddenly convulsed for a moment, glowing slightly with a green aura, before standing upright, his body shaking slightly as he tried to resist. Eleanor then reached into a pocket and produced something the men couldn't see from their perspective.

"As you see, Mr. Lynch. Rapture itself, rejects you. This family is my family and I'll be damned before I let it come to harm. Now, take the pistol." She said as she held out the Lugar Pistol towards Lynch who tried to resist but Eleanor was simply too powerful for him now.

"Put it to your head." Eleanor said as she turned away. Lynch tried to resist but couldn't, turning the Lugar towards the side of his head. Eleanor began to walk away, walking towards her family as she gave one final command.

"Fire." She said. Lynch's hand shook in futile resistance.

"N-!" he managed to cry out before they heard a gunshot followed by the thud of Lynch's body falling to the ground. The Sisters all hovered around the corpse, hissing and growling at it, some stabbing it a couple of times with their needles to be sure he was dead. One of the Sisters picked up the pistol and carried it over to Eleanor, holding it out to her. Eleanor didn't even look towards her, taking the pistol and putting it in the container on her back.

"Eleanor?" Jack said as Eleanor knelt down and checked his wound.

"Mr. Ryan, are you alright?" she asked, worriedly.

"I don't know. I can't feel much in my leg. I can feel it and can only barely move it through the pain." Jack replied, Porter and Meltzer moving to help the wounded Ryan.

"We need to get out of here and find you some help." Porter said as one of the Sisters hobbled over, the lights in their helmets now green. She quietly stuck her needle into Jack's side, causing him to wince in pain. Porter and Meltzer tried to intervene but Eleanor stopped them.

"Wait. She's trying to help." She replied as the Sister removed the needle, Jack's leg now partially recovered. Eleanor checked the wound again and slightly grimaced.

"The bullet's pretty deep. We'll need a surgeon to fully remove it but the ADAM injection should help ease the pain for now and make enough repairs to the damaged tissue for you to be able to walk without causing further damage to yourself." Eleanor diagnosed, some of her absorbed knowledge coming in handy.

"Thank you, thank you both." Jack said, looking at the Sister who was looking at him curiously. Jack started to climb to his feet but had to brace himself against Porter. Mark found a piece of twisted metal debris, a broken metal pole of some sort with an end that had been blunted long ago and handed it to Jack to use as a makeshift crutch.

"Ellie, how did you survive? I saw you pinned under some debris." Jack said as Eleanor nodded, picking up Jack's pistol and handing it to him.

"They saved me. They weren't trying to harm me at all, at least not now. There was something I needed to do here in Rapture. A story I was meant to know." Eleanor explained, looking at the Big Sisters who were all lingering around, removing their helmets, the golden glow in their eyes piercing through the darkness.

"What story?" Jack asked. Eleanor smiled and was about to answer when another woman's voice answered for her.

"_Mine."_

* * *

__**End Chapter 16**

One last chapter to go…


	17. Dream's End

"_Now at last, I see behind the final door. I see my life coming to an end. But I am content. Events have been set in motion. I won't die forgotten. I will live on through the Elizabeth of a different world, through Eleanor. There is always a Lighthouse, always a man, always a city, and always an Elizabeth. These four things will exist no matter what you do. Booker and Comstock showed me that. In killing Comstock, I simply moved the Constants around. They took a different form. Instead of a lighthouse with a rocket, it was a lighthouse with a bathysphere. Instead of Zachary Comstock, it was Andrew Ryan. Instead of Columbia in the sky, it was Rapture beneath the sea. And instead of Anna DeWitt, it was Eleanor Lamb. I can die peacefully now, knowing that not only will Sally have a bright and happy future ahead of her, but that my memory and my story will live on even as the dream comes to an end."_

Elizabeth  
"The Final Door."

* * *

_"Mine" _a woman's voice said from the sole remaining monitor. They all looked to see a still image of Elizabeth on the monitor. Eleanor smiled at the monitor as they approached, Jack hobbling with his makeshift cane.

"It's alright, I know you're not Elizabeth." Eleanor said as the monitor shifted to an artist's painting of the Thinker statue.

"_I know. I'm sorry for deceiving you Eleanor." _The Thinker replied, using Elizabeth's voice.

"Wait, so we came here, went through all of this, just so that Eleanor could learn some girl's story?" Mark asked, confused.

"There's more to this than meets the eye, Mark. I feel that we're dealing with events that occurred even before Rapture itself was so much as a thought." Jack said. They then heard the sound of a coin being flipped behind them.

"And the final pieces fall into place." Robert Lutece said, flipping the Silver Eagle in his hand while Rosalind stood to his left.

"You again?!" Mark asked in surprise.

"I suppose this is the part where the actors make their final bow." Rosalind said.

"Well that would be proper, if it were the right time." Robert replied.

"Ah. That is true." Rosalind said.

"You two…you're responsible for all of this?" Jack asked.

"Why do they always assume we're the instigators?" Rosalind asked, looking slightly at Robert.

"Well considering what we are capable of, I can see their logic." Robert replied.

"To answer your question, no we are not responsible." Rosalind said to the four.

"We merely knew the when…" "…the where…" "…the who…" "…and the how." "All we did was show up at the right time…" "…and the right place." "One of the benefits about being scattered across space and time." "I believe the girl will fill you in on those details. No reason to repeat ourselves." The Luteces said, speaking practically as one person.

"So you two and the Thinker…you worked together to make sure certain events happened." Porter said as he removed his helmet, Mark removing his as well.

"We did stage some interventions." Robert said.

"Such as providing the machine with enough information about the girl for it to imitate her." "Modifying Mr. Meltzer's device." "Showing you how to make our device work." "But by and large, we had very little to do with things." "We merely left little hints behind to help each world reach the same outcome." The Luteces replied.

"Wait…each world?" Jack asked, beginning to realize what they meant.

"The universe is full of constants…" Rosalind started.

"…and variables." Robert added.

"The constants relate to certain aspects that will happen across every world." "The variables relate to how these constants differ from the rest." "There's always a lighthouse." "Always a man." "Always a City." The Luteces said as Eleanor smiled.

"And always an Elizabeth." Eleanor replied, earning looks from the other three but she gave them a reassuring nod.

"Among these four constants, there is one certainty that crosses and encompasses all worlds." Robert said as Rosalind motioned to the room around her with only one hand.

"The city will always die." Rosalind said.

"And the dream will always end." Robert added.

"Columbia, our city, is dead." Rosalind said as Robert motioned towards something behind the four. They turned and saw a control panel with three key slots and a lever with a television monitor behind it, illuminated by a single light from overhead.

"Now it is time for Rapture, your city, to draw its final breath." Robert said. When they looked back towards them, they had vanished. The four approached the control panel just as some of the lights flickered on, barely lighting the room but illuminating it enough for them to see. As they looked the panel over, the monitor behind the machine flickered on, showing the Thinker's icon.

"Thinker, what is this?" Porter asked.

"_This was Andrew Ryan's backup plan. He feared that the surface would find Rapture and the nations of the world would seek to plunder its secrets. He devised a way to destroy the city, should that ever happen. There were two places that would allow him to do this. One in Hephaestus and the other here, where the foundations of Rapture were laid."_ The Thinker said, still using Elizabeth's voice as Jack looked the panel over and saw the three key slots.

"For all the good it does us though. It looks like it requires three keys and I've only got the one." Jack said, raising the one he'd brought with him. He then saw Eleanor holding one in her hand.

"And I have one from Ryan's apartment." Eleanor said, as Porter raised a third.

"And I…have one that Mr. Meltzer found." Porter said, all stunned as they all looked towards the monitor.

"Thinker? Did you…was that your doing?" Porter asked.

"_My equations predicted that Lynch might destroy the self-destruct in Hephaestus. I had to come up with a means for the four of you to acquire at least three of those keys. Mr. Ryan brought one with him. I knew one was required to reengage the genetic locks which Mr. Meltzer recovered, and I knew Andrew Ryan had a spare in his apartment which I helped Eleanor to recover by initiating a lockdown in Jupiter Circle, forcing her to recover Ryan's spare. I apologize for my deception but in order for Rapture to end, these keys had to be acquired." _Thinker explained.

"Thinker, you want us to destroy Rapture? Don't you want us to try and get you out first?" Jack asked.

"_I cannot, Mr. Ryan. Rapture is my home. I was built to keep it alive. Without anyone to keep alive, I have no reason for existing. I have calculated the Rapture Departure Protocol, Mr. Porter. I have calculated it, and this is the output." _Thinker replied as the four looked at each other. They then heard a series of mechanical sounds and looked to see the large doors to the Submarine Bay opening in the back, several spotlights coming on to reveal an Austen Streamliner submarine, in pristine condition, sitting in a dry-dock berth with a boarding ramp attached to the side.

"What is that?" Mark asked.

"Our ticket out of here." Jack replied as he looked at his key but then thought of something and turned to where the Big Sisters were gathered.

"What about them?" Porter asked.

"They're welcome to come with us. We've plenty of room at home." Jack said as one of the Sisters approached, holding something out for Eleanor. It was a crudely built Big Daddy doll that Eleanor recognized. She smiled at the small effigy of Subject Delta and placed it inside her storage tank. It was the same one she had dropped into the ocean two years ago after escaping Rapture.

"We…come. We…see…sky." One of them said in a whisper. Eleanor then produced a plasmid polyp, one that glowed with a brilliant golden light. She approached the Sisters as the light brightened to envelope all of them. When the light faded, all the Sisters had changed physically. Their skin had color to them once more and their eyes no longer glowed.

"What did you do?" Jack asked as Eleanor turned back towards them, the Sisters beginning to stand upright on their feet behind her, rising from their hunched and animal like postures.

"I've cured them of their conditioning. They will always have the ADAM Slug inside of them, but at least now they have a chance, a chance you've given me and others just like them on the surface, Mr. Ryan." Eleanor said as Jack smiled, understanding what she meant.

"A chance to learn, find love, to live." He said as the Sisters began to put their helmets on and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

"Where are they going? Aren't they coming with us?" Porter asked.

"They'll meet us at the Lighthouse. They won't go anywhere else without us. They're giving us time to do what we came here to do." Eleanor said as she approached, putting her helmet on. Jack, Porter, and Meltzer followed suit, putting their helmets on.

"_I've set the timers to thirty minutes. It'll take, at most, ten minutes for the escape sub to launch so don't waste any time once you begin the countdown…I guess this is goodbye, my friends." _The Thinker said before shifting to an old image of Pearl Porter.

"_And Milton…thank you." _The Thinker said in Pearl's voice before the screens went dark.

"I'll go make sure the sub is ready to go." Mark said, walking off towards the sub. Porter and Eleanor watched him leave but soon noticed that Jack had vanished. They turned and saw him looking out the portholes of the Sinker, looking at Rapture. Eleanor was about to say something when Porter stopped her and shook his head. She gave an understanding nod as Jack let out a sigh, turning and hobbling back towards the control panel, key in hand.

"Well…let's finish it." Jack said as they plugged the keys into the panel, a clicking sound coming from the lever, indicating that the locking mechanisms keeping it from moving had undone. The monitor flickered on with a warning screen.

"_Warning: Self-destruct safety protocols have been disengaged. Self-destruct may now be activated." _An automated female voice said. The three looked at each other and nodded as Jack took hold of the lever and pulled it. Instantly alarms started sounding, red lights starting to flash as the city wide P.A. systems came on.

"_People of Rapture, may I have your attention please! Rapture's secrecy is compromised! The Parasites are coming to steal the sweat of our brows! We must not let the Parasites have what we created! Better we die as free men, than live as slaves to the parasites! Tonight is the night, Rapture dies!" _a prerecorded message from Andrew Ryan announced but Jack, Porter, and Eleanor weren't listening as they removed their keys and made their way to the sub. They quickly climbed aboard, closing and sealing the hatch behind them. Inside the sub was a wide assortment of various items from Rapture: bottles of every Plasmid and Tonic ever made, a Gene Bank, a couple jars of raw ADAM along with at least three ADAM Slugs in individual jars, a pair of empty Big Daddy diving suits, one Bouncer and one Lancer, five deactivated Security Bots and two deactivated turrets, boxes full of Accu-Vox tapes and vinyl albums produced in Rapture, and numerous blueprints and schematics all stored in the what was once a luxurious private submarine. It was Lynch's Escape Craft. Eleanor helped Jack to a couch as Porter pulled a lever, starting the submarine's engines. It had two engines, one for internal power and one for propulsion, both fed on separate fuel tanks. They watched as the bay doors closed, water starting to fill the bay, flooding quickly. After eight minutes, Porter took hold of the wheel.

"Hang on everyone." Porter said calmly, Mark sitting down on a couch opposite Jack and Eleanor. The bay was full of water and they saw light shining down from overhead, indicating a clear route of escape. Porter pulled a lever, the submarine beginning to rise quickly at first, rising out of the bay, the statue on top of the Sinker having slid forward to allow the sub clearance. Porter quickly threw another lever, piloting the sub forward, bringing the sub between the buildings, watching as the lights inside the buildings all flashed red in response to the alert. After ten minutes of navigating through the city, they had reached the edge of the city, piloting the vessel straight forward, away from the city. After five minutes of moving at full speed, Jack climbed to his feet.

"Turn us around." Jack said, everyone looking towards him in shock.

"What?!" Eleanor asked as Jack removed his helmet.

"I…I need to see it." Jack replied. The other three knew what he meant and silently nodded, Porter bringing the sub around and slowing it down to a stop. Soon the neon lights of Rapture sat before them, the city easily visible through the forward windows of the sub. They all removed their helmets, looking at the clock as it reached the final minute before detonation. Not a word was spoken as they watched with anticipation. When it reached zero, they started seeing explosions going off beneath the foundations of the buildings and around the edges of the city itself, the buildings beginning to collapse upon each other, all of them falling one direction as the city itself seemed to move. They then realized what was happening. The city was sliding into the trench that ran next it, the ground itself giving way and sliding into the trench, the buildings falling on top of each other and leaving little to no debris behind where the city once sat. Finally the lights of Rapture had all disappeared, the sea itself now pitch black, the only light coming from inside the sub. Porter quietly pulled another lever, causing the sub to start to rise once more, Porter bringing the sub about to the proper heading for them to arrive at the lighthouse. As the sub glided through the sea, Eleanor began to hum a small tune. They quietly listened as Eleanor somberly began to sing a familiar song they all knew…

"_There are loved ones in the glory,  
whose dear forms you often miss.  
When you close your earthly story,  
will you join them in their bliss?"_

They the sea started getting brighter, the surface getting closer by the second as Eleanor sang, with Meltzer joining in at the chorus…

"_Will the circle be unbroken,_  
_by and by, by and by?_  
_Is a better home awaiting,_  
_in the sky, in the sky?"_

As they neared the surface, Porter joined in singing, the three singing parts while Jack listened, the song a fitting eulogy for Rapture and those who died with it…

"_In the joyous days of childhood,_  
_oft they told of wondrous love._  
_Pointed to the dying Savior,_  
_now they dwell with Him above."_

They then saw stars before them, the light of the Lighthouse welcoming them back to the surface. They could see the Big Sisters all sitting around the Lighthouse, looking at the stars, their mouths all curiously moving in unison as Eleanor, Porter, and Meltzer sang…

"_Will the circle be unbroken,_  
_by and by, by and by?_  
_Is a better home awaiting,_  
_in the sky, in the sky?"_

The sub pulled up next to the lighthouse, Mark standing up to pull down a ladder leading to a top hatch, opening the hatch. When he did, they could finally hear what the Sisters were doing, they were singing the same song in perfect unison over the sound of the ocean's waves, knowing the song from those who's ADAM they had collected…

"_You remember songs of heaven_  
_which you sang with childish voice._  
_Do you love the hymns they taught you,_  
_or are songs of earth your choice?"_

Eleanor, Porter, and Meltzer joined in again as they began to climb out, the mood: somber, as they tied the sub off to the lighthouse, Jack sitting and listening to the sisters and the others as they sang…

"_Will the circle be unbroken,  
by and by, by and by?  
Is a better home awaiting,  
in the sky, in the sky?"_

Soon Jack started to climb out of the sub, climbing up the ladder. As he reached the top, he felt three strong sets of hands grab him under the shoulders, helping out of the sub. He then saw Eleanor, Porter, and Mark all smiling towards him as they helped him to the steps leading up to the lighthouse, the Sisters all singing…

"_You can picture happy gath'rings,_  
_round the fireside long ago._  
_and you think of tearful partings,_  
_when they left you here below."_

The Sisters didn't pay him much attention as he made his way up the steps, pushing the lighthouse doors open, the automated locking mechanisms having disengaged when it lost contact with Rapture. Porter quietly stepped inside and immediately lifted the plaque off the front pedestal, revealing what looked like an elaborate switchboard and began tinkering while Jack stood at the door, listening as the Sisters sang…

"_Will the circle be unbroken,  
by and by, by and by?  
Is a better home awaiting,  
in the sky, in the sky?"_

Jack then looked to the starry sky above, wondering if the spirits of Rapture's dead were looking down on him from on high as the Sisters and Eleanor sang…

"_One by one their seats were emptied._  
_One by one they went away._  
_Now the family is parted._  
_Will it be complete one day?"_

Finally Jack joined in the final chorus, singing softly to himself as relief washed over him. The Rapture nightmare was over. Its secrets would forever stay buried and everyone who had died in Rapture could finally rest peacefully in the sea…

"_Will the circle be unbroken,  
by and by, by and by?  
Is a better home awaiting,  
in the sky, in the sky?"_

The sisters began to quietly hum the song as Jack quietly thought to himself, Porter finishing the modifications he was working on…

"_And so, the dream has come to an end. Rapture: Where the artist need not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by morality, where the great wouldn't be constrained by the small, a single man's dream for a utopia. But utopia is not of this earth. It cannot be found on land. It cannot be found in the sky or the stars. It cannot be found in the sea. Where utopia is, none can say. There are those who believe they know but in the end, all they find is anything but. No man knows where utopia is and it cannot be created by man. Rapture was founded to be utopia only to drown itself and the lifeless body left to rot beneath the sea. There may be another Rapture out there, a true utopia, but it is not of the earth. I can only hope that, one day, I will see this Rapture but until that day, I can only pray that those who sought this earthly Rapture, sleep peacefully beneath the sea." _Jack pondered before closing his eyes just as Porter pressed a button on the lighthouse controls, the signal light suddenly turning red as the Lighthouse's foghorns let out a deafening blast, startling the Sisters, Eleanor, and Mark. The foghorns then let out two more blasts at a different, lower, pitch and followed by two more at a higher pitch, the red light of the lighthouse fading in and out in synch with the horns.

"What was that?!" Mark asked, still stunned by the sound. Jack remained silent, closing his eyes and listening closely. They all remained silent, waiting patiently for a few seconds before they suddenly heard a foghorn sounding in the distance, matching the same note the lighthouse had made. They all looked around for the source just as they heard two more blasts in the same lower pitch, Eleanor spotting a bright red light flashing in the distance in synch with the horns as the foghorns sounded the same final two notes the Lighthouse had sounded earlier.

"What was that, Jack?!" Mark asked, still stunned.

"Easy." Jack said as he could see the faint lights of a ship in the distance where the red light had faded in and out.

"It's home."

* * *

**The End**

This concludes Bioshock: Dream's End. The story of Jack, Eleanor, Porter, Meltzer, the Sisters, and the rest of Rapture's survivors will be continued in Bioshock: A Chance.

Also look forward to a second spinoff story centered around the "Prime" Booker DeWitt and the "Prime" Anna DeWitt, the versions of both where Anna was never lost to Comstock and stayed with Booker in New York.

I hope you enjoyed this story and I hope you come back for more. Until then…

Keep R&amp;Ring…

Star Tours Traveler.


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